By Michael Savage

When the row over Lord Ashcroft and his non-dom tax status was raging last week, I wondered whether Denis MacShane, one of the Labour MPs leading the outrage, would quit his role on the editorial board of the political mag, Total Politics. Ashcroft owns a 25 per cent stake in the magazine, secured through his company, Bearwood Corporate Services.

Denis said he would be keeping the role with Total Politics because its publisher, the Tory blogger, Iain Dale, had kept the content strictly non-partisan – there was no hint that Ashcroft had any influence over editorial decisions.

However, the Labour MP has now quit the magazine. But it’s nothing to do with Ashcroft. His departure was prompted by the decision to give space to the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, ahead of the next election.

“Although I oppose Lord Ahhcroft's occult role in Tory politics, I consider Total Politics a fine and wide ranging monthly edited with the flair and energy Iain Dale brings to political publishing and writing,” MacShane said. But he added Griffin had a “clear” history of racism, something he has fought throughout his political career.

UPDATE: Iain Dale has responded to MacShane's departure. He says: "We have thought long and hard about the rights and wrongs of doing this interview, but feel that if we are a non partisan magazine we cannot afford to boycott the BNP, no matter how much we might like to. I’m going to approach the interview in exactly the same way as I would with any other politician. Let’s hope I produce an interview that delivers the goods and allows people to make up their own minds."