The membership list of the far-right British National Party (BNP) was leaked over the internet last week and confirmed by its leaders to be "essentially genuine".

There were details of 12,000 people, whose ranks included members of the armed forces, teachers, police officers, housing officers and others – people in positions of trust and authority.

Of these, 160 members are in Bristol. That may not sound like many, but, if you consider that the total population of Bristol makes up only 0.65 per cent of the UK's entire population, Bristolians actually make up 1.1 per cent of the BNP membership. That is a little concerning. It means, in my view, that the rest of us cannot afford to be complacent.

Let me first make it clear that I have absolutely no sympathy or goodwill towards the BNP or what it stands for. I grew up in Bristol having to fight, quite literally, almost on a weekly basis with members of what was then known as the National Front, simply because of the colour of my skin. They are little different today, except that they wear suits now.

But I do not agree with the clamour to have the people on the list removed from their jobs simply because they are members of the group. A witch hunt – and that is exactly what it amounts to – makes me seriously uncomfortable. It should make everyone uncomfortable.

If we do not like a particular ideology, let us defeat it with a better ideology.

I agree with the comment of communities secretary Hazel Blears that many white working class people lean towards groups like the BNP because they feel ignored by the main political parties.

A witch hunt against people of this kind will only make martyrs out of groups like the BNP. People who feel isolated, disenfranchised or alienated are bound to be attracted by the extremist ideology – it makes everything sound simple and it points the finger of blame at others.

All extremist ideologies are the same in that respect; in the vacuum of truth, the extremists have a nasty ability to tap into and exploit people's emotions and frustrations. They exploit the vulnerable.

White extremists tell the vulnerable "they" hate you, don't care about you, will suppress you and will evict you. Religious extremists do exactly the same. And each time, they use the words and actions of the extremist at the other end of the spectrum to drive home their argument. They feed off each other – and caught in the middle are the vast majority of people.

There are plenty of people doing good things in this world and trying to bridge the ever-increasing divide we are seeing. Let us support and help them. Let us fight for the good guys. Let us not make martyrs out of the bad guys.