Michael Howard has launched a stinging attack on the British National Party.

The Conservative leader described the party as "a stain on our democratic way of life".

Howard used a speech in Burnley on Thursday to deliver a scathing assessment of the BNP portraying its leadership racist and violent.

"Let’s not mince our words. The policies of the British National Party are based on bigotry and hatred," he said.

"Its approach is entirely alien to our political traditions. This is not a political movement. This is a bunch of thugs dressed up as a political party.

"But they have enjoyed electoral success beyond their wildest dreams. They are organised at the local level and capitalise on scare-mongering and distortion.

"The BNP preaches a message of racism, intolerance and brutality that flies in the face of this country’s history and heritage."

Failure

Howard admitted mainstream political parties - including the Conservatives - had to do more to encourage people from ethnic minorities to stand as parliamentary candidates.

"We should be making even more progress than we already have. Despite the success stories, ethnic minorities are still under-represented in many of our major institutions. That, I’m sorry to say, includes the Conservative Party," he said.

The Conservative leader also stepped up the pressure on the government to limit immigration from Eastern Europe.

He set out his party's proposals ahead of an expected government announcement on Monday of tighter welfare rules to prevent so-called "benefit tourism" when the EU enlarges to the east in May.

"Asylum applications will instead be processed abroad, near the claimant’s country of origin, in reception centres run by the British authorities and will be dealt with quickly. And anyone wanting to come here to work will have to apply for a work permit," Howard said.

Dithering

He accused ministers of dithering having known about the problem for three years.

"The government has approached this problem in typical fashion. First it failed to address it, then it ignored it, now is it claiming to face up to it," he said.

"The government refuses to acknowledge the scale and urgency of the problem. It has shown itself quite incapable of dealing with it. As a consequence, the government is tolerating a state of affairs in which entire communities live in the shadows, beyond our reach and beyond our help."

He stressed that his calls for tougher rules did not indicate hostility to the enlargement process itself.

"The Conservative Party has always supported the enlargement of the EU to take in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe. We continue to do so," he said.

"If the European Union stands for anything it is healing the divide that has scarred our continent since the Second World War."

Dangerous

Ahead of Howard's visit to the North West, the Liberal Democrats accused him of "walking a dangerous path by choosing Burnley to peddle his anti-asylum message".

"All politicians have a duty to deal responsibly with immigration and asylum issues," said home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten.

"This could be seen by some as a deeply cynical attempt to exploit local problems. In the last year we have seen a succession of u-turns, on detention centres, on the 'asylum island', and on the promise to use savings to fund 40,000 extra police. It is time for Howard to put up or shut up."