Peter Hitchens on the BNP

In a few days' time there will be local council elections in Britain in which it appears that the anti-immigration, get-tough-on-crime British National Party may make some significant gains—though probably largely thanks to protest votes rather than genuine support. The leader of this party has only recently distanced himself from earlier anti-Semitic and other neo-fascist statements and associations, so it is far from clear that the relatively moderate face he is now presenting is anything more than an opportunistic move to win votes from a broader social-conservative base. That base is in despair over the general breakdown of the rule of law in England, the admission of ever larger numbers of apparently unassimilable immigrants, and the attempt by the entire ruling élite to demonize anyone who questions their disastrous social-engineering policies. The disconnection from reality of the major British parties has produced an incredible state of affairs in which many moderate voters may be voting for a (possibly) neo-fascist party. Were such a party ever to gain power nationally, one might add, the present British political system, lacking in any kind of constitutional checks, would offer little resistance to being converted into a dictatorship.

Peter Hitchens has a Daily Mail article which seems to assess the situation more or less accurately, as far as I can make it out. The comments are worth reading too. H/T: Relapsed Catholic.

Update: Here's an allegation that party leader Nick Griffin (who has a farm in Wales) has named two of his pigs "Anne" and "Frank".