The war of words between the Church of England and the British National Party escalated on Sunday after the deputy leader of the far-right group said he stood by his attack on the Archbishop of York in which he described Dr John Sentamu's Ugandan countrymen as spear-throwers and attacked the Archbishop himself as an "ambitious African".

Simon Darby, who is leading the BNP drive for seats in the coming European elections and was recently pictured receiving a Nazi salute at a fascist rally in Italy, claimed his attack on Dr Sentamu was not racist.

He criticised the widely revered number two in the established Church as "derogatory, condescending and arrogant."

The BNP, whose aim is repatriation, has been at war with the Church of England after the General Synod in February voted to ban clergy and lay staff from belonging to it. Church leaders went on to condemn its recent posters invoking the name of Jesus Christ in claiming that the BNP was being persecuted as he was. Church leaders in Yorkshire have urged voters not to back the BNP in the coming elections

Most recently, in the wake of St George's Day celebration last week, Dr Sentamu, who has become the Church's leading spokesman in defending Britishness and traditional "English" values, had criticised the BNP's call in its Language and Concepts Discipline Manual for black and Asian Britons to be referred to not as British but as "racial foreigners".

Claiming that the Archbishop is trying to rob English people of their identity, Mr Darby said: "What I am saying is, if I went to Uganda and I went to a Ugandan village and said that the people there were genetic mongrels and that they had no right to their Ugandan identity, I would be picking out spears for days. And rightly so. I wouldn’t say that but if I did, I would be attacked and I would deserve to be attacked. I certainly wouldn’t need a return ticket.”

Mr Darby said the Archbishop should not interfere in the political process and described him as an “anti-British zealot”. In an interview with Birmingham's Sunday Mercury newspaper, he said the Archbishop should "have thought about the consequences” of speaking out against the BNP.

Dr Sentamu last week criticised claims by BNP Leader Nick Griffin that a "bloodless genocide" was taking place in Britain. Griffin had himself been defending a BNP election leaflet that said black and Asian Britons "do not exist" and that they were “no more British than an Englishman living in Hong Kong is Chinese."

Dr Sentamu, who has backed the campaign to make St George's Day a public holiday to celebrate Englishness, said: "You don't have to be a member of the BNP to be clearly English, and it is quite a mistake to suggest that everybody who wants to affirm Englishness affirms that narrow thinking. This 'bloodless genocide'? I think that is just language which is beyond belief."

Writing on his blog on Sunday, Mr Darby said: "Apparently I am meant to shrink away from my comments and offer grovelling apologies unfortunately they are talking to the wrong chap. For I stand by every word that I said, pointing out that if I had travelled to Africa and insulted the indigenous people in the same arrogant, conceited and insensitive way that John Sentamu had I would have deserved to be attacked. Not that I would of course, unlike John Sentamu I wouldn't dream of trying to deny indigenous Africans like the Masai, Bantu or the Zulus the right to their own identity, homeland and way of life."

On his original St George's Day blog on April 23, Mr Darby wrote: "Our old friend John Sentamu, or to give him his full name John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu, has been up to his old tricks once again. As if the responsibilities of being the Archbishop of York were not enough the ambitious African has apparently used his power and influence to kindly bestow upon the world the right to be English."

Going on to criticise the Labour MP Shahid Malik as well, Darby wrote: “I somewhat doubt whether or not this collection of professional anti-British zealots, who try oh so very hard to disguise their true motivations, have thought about the consequences of BNP success in spite of their very public interference. However, what is certain is that should the BNP triumph in Yorkshire or elsewhere, the likes of Malik and Santemu [sic] will be able to wallow in their newly acclaimed marginalisation, obscurity and irrelevance for years.”

Mr Darby, defending his comments yesterday, said: “I stand by my quotes. I don’t see how that is offensive or racist. It can be twisted and distorted to look that way but what I am saying is factual. There are lots of indigenous people there (Uganda) and in the bush they have spears, that is their lifestyle. I am not implying that all Ugandan people use spears at all, I was speaking specifically about the indigenous people. The spear is an integral part of their culture and lifestyle.

"I have respect for their identity, I wouldn’t dream of denying Ugandan tribes people their identity but the contrast is that that is what he (Sentamu) is doing. If I went there and preached down to those indigenous people in the same way that Sentamu does to us then I’d be attacked. If I was derogatory, condescending and arrogant - because that’s what John Sentamu is - I would be attacked. And rightly so. English people have an identity too but he is denying me my English identity and my right to my own identity. You can’t just wipe out our identity.”

The anti-fascist campaigners Searchlight said: “Simon Darby’s threats and thinly veiled racism expose the true face of the BNP. Dr Sentamu is internationally respected, but even he is not immune from the smears and hate being peddled by Darby and his colleagues. It’s a measure of Darby’s desperation that he is resorting to these vicious attacks on a man of faith." He said that the European election campaign had not even officially started, and already the BNP’s mask of moderation had "melted away”.