Tory policies on asylum and immigration did help to create the atmosphere which led to the Oldham race riots, the Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Charles Kennedy, claimed last night.
Mr Kennedy made his explosive intervention in support of his colleague Mr Simon Hughes after a second night of rioting in the town and as Greater Manchester police promised to maintain a "zero tolerance" policy in an effort to prevent a third. Rejecting Tory demands for an apology, Mr Kennedy insisted: "I don't think Simon Hughes or the Liberal Democrats have anything to apologise for.
If apologies are called for it is the opportunistic, knee-jerk response which the Conservatives have been trying to generate where asylum issues, immigration issues, race relations issues are concerned in this country."
And he declared: "Loose talk on sensitive social issues from senior politicians can create a very unhelpful atmosphere indeed."
The shadow foreign secretary, Mr Frances Maude, said Mr Kennedy's endorsement of Mr Hughes was "beyond the pale".
And Mr Kennedy's comments provoked an attack on the "moral relativism" of the Liberal Democrats from the Labour Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw.
Mr Straw defended police against accusations of heavy-handed dispersal of Asian youths in the Glodwick and Westwood areas of the town on Saturday and Sunday night. They had "got it right", he insisted, despite finding themselves "between a rock and a hard place".
He told the BBC however: "I don't happen to agree with either Simon Hughes or Charles Kennedy that you can lay the blame for what happened at the door of the Conservatives."
Insisting that his disagreement with the Conservatives over asylum policy was "completely separate", Mr Straw continued: "The simple fact of the matter is that those responsible for the throwing of the petrol bombs and those responsible earlier for taunting the Asians and for committing violence from the right wing are those who committed those acts of violence."
Confirming his view that Mr William Hague no more approved of it than he did, Mr Straw went on: "I've always objected to this kind of moral relativism which seeks to shift the blame for criminal activity from those actually causing it to others."
At least 12 people were arrested during Sunday night's disturbances, which saw the headquarters of the Oldham Evening Chronicle firebombed. However the Assistant Chief Constable, Mr Alan Bridge, claimed a "successful operation" on Sunday night "in that the violence was nowhere near as intense or widespread" as on Saturday.
Greater Manchester police promised a large and highly visible presence in Oldham again last night, after some of the worst race riots witnessed in Britain for 15 years.
Mr Bridge said there would be no immediate scaling- down of the police presence.
In a separate and unrelated incident on Sunday night police in Aylesbury arrested 13 Asians and seven whites after a riot developed outside a house in which it was claimed members of the far-right group Combat 18 were taking refuge.
Police and council officials yesterday said activity by rightwing extremists had stirred racial tensions in Oldham. Chief Superintendent Eric Hewitt said: "There is no doubt that the presence of the National Front and the British National Party in recent weeks would seem to be a deliberate ploy to exploit our racial situation, and it has struck a chord of fear among all our communities, not just Asians."
The British National Party chairman, Mr Nick Griffin, who is standing as an election candidate in Oldham, told the BBC he would not condone racist abuse from white youths. But he claimed 60 per cent of tit-for-tat racist violence had been perpetrated by Asians who were just 20 per cent of Oldham's population.
"If you are looking for a racist thug in Oldham it's six times more likely that he's an Asian racist thug than a white racist thug. There's blame on both sides," he said.