
To paraphrase Chesterton, when the working class stop believing in Labour they don't believe in nothing they believe in anything - the BNP in Dagenham, Jamaat-e-Islami and the SWP in Tower Hamlets and the Christian People's Alliance in south London.In today's Observer I look at how the British establishment is hopeless at dealing with the extremist politics that result. One hopeful sign is the emergence of conservative organisations campaigning against fascism in all its forms, most notably the Centre for Social Cohesion and Nothing British About the BNP. From a crudely electoral point of view Tories have everything to gain from a BNP vote damaging Labour. It is good to see them putting the national interest before party advantage.
Nick Cohen is a columnist for the Observer. You Can't Read This Book, his account of modern censorship, will be published this month by encounter.
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