BASINGSTOKE MP Andrew Hunter this week vehemently denied being racist.

He also told The Gazette that he was considering taking legal action against newspapers who accused him of disobeying Conservative party orders to cut his links with the right-wing magazine Right Now! Mr Hunter insisted he now had no links whatsoever with the magazine.

"Last week, several newspapers and a radio programme denounced me for disobeying party instructions by continuing to act as a patron of the magazine Right Now!" Mr Hunter said. "The story which was peddled last week was almost entirely untrue.

"I am taking legal advice on this at the moment - and may take action against at least one newspaper.

"Far from being a scurrilous right-wing rag, Right Now! is a high-quality political journal. Its contributors include leading academics and senior politicians. It publishes informative, thought-provoking articles - some of which challenge accepted orthodoxy and norms. That is why it is regarded as a pariah by the left-wing of British politics.

"Contrary to these media reports, there are no Conservative party instructions relating to Right Now! There never have been."

Mr Hunter said that because of misleading media reports earlier this year, the Conservative chief whip in Parliament wrote to the magazine to confirm that MPs were not required by him to sever any links with Right Now!

He added: "I have no practical involvement in - or connection with - Right Now! and no ongoing 'links' to sever. I play no part in the production or publication of the magazine. I have no editorial input. I am not supporting Right Now! financially or in kind.

"However, my name appears on the list of the magazine's patrons. This was historically accurate as I was one of several people who helped found the magazine - but I have no current links to Right Now! whatsoever. So that there can be no doubt about this, I have instructed them to remove my name from all future publications.

"I trust this will now stop insinuations that I am somehow racist. I deplore and despise racism, have always done so and always will."