Home secretary Alan Johnson has called for a discussion on immigration, saying the government has "shied away" from the issue.

In an interview with the Independent, Johnson acknowledged that in the past Labour may have avoided the issue and in doing so played into the hands of the BNP.

And the home secretary admits that Labour's failure to debate immigration has "probably" boosted the BNP's appeal.

Johnson said: "People think we have shied away from a debate on it. They may well be right.

"My post bag is bigger on immigration than any other issue. It is a major public concern.

“The public deserves a rational debate on this, rather than what they sometimes get, which is at the extreme end of the scale."

Johnson made clear his comments are part of a concerted effort to regain the initiative on the issue and try to convince the public that Labour has learned from its mistakes and "completely transformed" the immigration and asylum systems.

Last week the home secretary admitted that successive governments including the current one had been a "maladroit" in handling the issue and that immigration had been good for the UK "culturally, socially and certainly economically".

He also said the recent decision to allow BNP leader Nick Griffin to appear on BBC 1's Question Time was a mistake.

Johnson added: "I think that the publicity gave the BNP exactly what it wanted."

However, he made clear that he was still not prepared to share a public platform with the BNP to debate the matter.