London mayor Ken Livingstone has hit out at plans for a National Front march in the Capital.

Livingstone was speaking ahead of a weekend demonstration by the neo-Nazi group in the borough of Newham.

The mayor said the march should be banned on the grounds that it was not a protest but a "campaign to whip up race hate".

"This is now the second National Front demonstration in London in less than a month," he said.

"There is now a systematic campaign by the National Front to work their way around parts of East and South East London like a cancer with the intention of whipping up race hate.

"As I have argued throughout, these are not political marches protected by the right to demonstrate in a free society - they are acts of provocation and intimidation designed to incite racist conflict.

"We know that these marches are often followed by a rise in racial tension and sometimes very violent racist attacks.

"This fact must be taken into account when considering whether to allow the marches to go ahead."