However odious and offensive many of us might find their views, the British National Party is a legal political party that holds two of the UK's 72 seats in the European Parliament. So it was wholly appropriate that Buckingham Palace issue Nick Griffin with an invitation to its garden party. If he had not been invited, voters who already feel disconnected from the political process might have perceived it as being excluded by the establishment and have been even more likely to vote for the party. However, if he has abused that trust and used the event for political purposes, then it is also wholly appropriate that they withdraw the invitation.

Britain's democratic freedoms are firmly rooted in our nation's Christian heritage, and the church should have a particular interest in defending freedom of speech and a concern over any form of censorship. However, part of the compact between church and state in this country is that the monarch remains politically neutral and, as Nick Griffin has discovered, politicians abuse this at their own peril.

No doubt the BNP will be pleased that this incident has raised their public profile once again, but we should not fear that this will cause more people to support his extreme views. Rather, our faith calls us to articulate a vision for society grounded in hope. The truth is, the more publicity we give to such parties' ideas, the more people will realise that they should not be trusted with our votes. And the more we discuss the issues of concern to people in our communities, the more we can dispel misconceptions that otherwise cause people to feel they need to resort to supporting such parties.

It is also clear that a significant minority feel the BNP best represents their concerns on issues such as immigration and local welfare distribution and, rather than sweeping their concerns under the carpet, we should be discussing them openly and honestly--especially as race and immigration is identified as the most important issue facing the country besides the economy. If is through free debate, not censorship, that extremists will be beaten from the public square. If one begins down the path of censorship, then there is always the question of where one draws the line--and we may wake up to find that tomorrow it is our ideas that are being censored.

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