BNP victory - what does this say about British politics?

There are a number of reasons why the British National Party, an overtly neo-nazi organisation, won its first parliamentary seats in the 2009 Euro elections: the collapse of Labour amplified its vote; the populist, reactionary rhetoric of the mainstream parties on immigration and crime have legitimised such bigoted views rather than tackled them and; the deletion of social class from the mainstream political vocabulary has left working-class white communities wide open to exploitation by the likes of the BNP.

Democracy is in crisis because the majority of the people (the polity) have literally become idiots; they decline to take responsibility for the management of the state - this is an epic crisis that threatens Western civilisation.

More immediately, the mainstream political parties should have the courage not to be ashamed of their relative education and wisdom to lead the people rather than to follow them. This includes saying 'no' to populist knee-jerk politics and explaining to them why such things as the rule of law, free trade and liberty have been and should continue to be so important to our country.

Sadly, the current tactic of the main parties is to attempt to poach support from the likes of the BNP by borrowing some of its more moderate rhetoric on immigration and crime and thus hoping to make it surplus to requirements by co-opting rather than converting those ignorant enough to hold such views.

The above are difficult, since they require the rebuilding of a nation that perhaps cannot be rebuilt by politicians alone, but the third point is actually relatively simple and redressable if the political parties had the courage to recognise the importance of class.

Currently, much of the Government's social agenda is perceived as being geared toward redressing inequalities based on race and gender rather than on class. If we look at the concrete realities of disadvantage as experienced on the street, the above categories are primarily (although not entirely) proxies for class disadvantage and deprivation, but proxies that exclude the majority of disadvantaged people in the UK today.

Issues of racial and gender identity are not irrelevant in our society - there are working class specific and wider issues where race and gender are key, but they should not be used as expedient proxies for addressing social disadvantage that is really about class. To do so is to foster a sense of alienation amongst already marginalised members of disadvantaged communities and leave them open to exploitation and co option by the BNP. To claim that these people are simply wrong in their perception and to leave it at that is to bury ones head in the sand while the tide comes in.