The thing to remember is that in a Democracy, the people always get the government that they deserve.

The problem here is not the BNP. Groups like the BNP will always exist. The fact that this particular group is on the verge of national influence says nothing about the group itself and everything about the people who are likely to vote for it. It also says that a significant percentage of the public are so dissatisfied with Labour and the Tories that they are searching for something else.

Fringe political groups only gain power and influence when the mainstream political organizations succeed in alienating the public.

It is also not sufficient to simply describe the BNP as an extremist group. That in and of itself says nothing. The founding fathers were extremists. The BNP is comprised of racists and fascists. How extreme they are about being racists and fascists is another question. In fact I don’t even know if I would describe the BNP as extremists. As far as fascist groups go, they’re pretty tame, which is part of the problem. They’re mild enough seeming that they’re able to attract those votes that Labour and the Tories have pissed away.

I for one am not concerned about this. The reason is that this is how mainstream parties are kept honest. If it were not for fringe groups like the BNP waiting in the wings, then the egotistical mandarins who run the major parties would have nothing to lose from abusing the very people they claim to represent, which come to think of it is exactly what they’ve been doing.

The BNP is gaining in popularity not because the British people are turning into racist fascists, but because of the policies and ideas they are promoting that DO resonate with ordinary reasonable people. One of the other parties, most likely the Tories, will adopt these popular ideas as their own and the BNP will have nothing left to offer but racism and fascism, at which point it fade back into relative obscurity.