Matthew Dancona

The symptoms of a sickly political system

‘The fascists are coming’ read the coverline of the Spectator’s May 30 issue. Fraser’s brilliant cover piece, analysing the cunning and tactical mutability of the BNP, looks all too bleakly prescient this morning. It is axiomatic to democracy that we have to tolerate views we find objectionable. But, really, the election of two BNP MEPs last  night shows how sickly our political system is: like a virus preying on a badly weakened body with a shattered immune system.

I hope Sky will post Adam Boulton’s superb interview with Nick Griffin last night (before the BNP leader was elected). Although Griffin was wearing a suit and trying to sound like a mainstream politician – citing MoD reports – one got the true measure of the man when he talked about Islam and said that you knew that a person was suitable for BNP membersip by their ‘look’.

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