The home secretary will today urge all parties to "fight head on" the threat posed by the British National Party in May's local elections.

Writing in today's Guardian, David Blunkett says the fight with the far right is "a battle we must enter with urgency, here in this country, across Europe and beyond".

MPs on Labour's parliamentary campaigns team are being asked to spend up to three evenings a week telephoning voters in seats contested by the BNP to warn of the threat posed by extremists.