I was reading this in the Times yesterday, rather scary, I thought.
I've noticed that the BNP have had a stall on Newark market place now for about the past four Saturdays. On most of the occasions I've spotted them they've been pretty much left to their own devices and nobody appears to be stopping to talk to them. Apart from last Saturday where some old codger had stopped and I could hear him saying "The trouble with these European things is you don't know who you're voting for and you never see them after the election." This worries me, he's exactly the sort of person they'd target. The BNP reps probably tried to sell their party to him as one that puts Britain first and is looking to get out of the EU. They'd have got him, and, as it says in that article, all that's needed is a low turnout and for a few people to vote for them and they're in. When they get MEPs they're entitled to all sorts of subsidies and have to be taken seriously by the media.
I'm torn about the BNP. Obviously I find their views totally abhorrent, but, as a believer in free speech, I think they should be allowed their say, no matter how horrid I find it. And I think that you should always know your enemy.
And Newark's exactly the sort of town where they may get something of a sympathetic ear. There's a huge distribution centre here for Curry's and food factories that both employ a lot of migrant workers. Prime 'they're taking our jobs and driving down wages' territory. And you only need a few fuckwits to get these people elected. I mean, look at last time, they elected Robert Kilroy Silk around here...
