The UK has always considered itself immune to political extremism; until this week, no explicitly racist party had ever won a seat in its legislatures. But no more. Two candidates from the odious British National party have been elected to the European parliament. This scar on the country’s record, however, largely reflects failure by the democratic parties, not a real BNP breakthrough.

The BNP has, in the past, referred to the Nazi genocide as “the Holohoax”. If it were to attain power, the party would deport many Britons who have the wrong racial background. These racists have campaigned against invented “Muslim sex gangs” that, they claim, prey on children and emerge “wherever there are large numbers of young Muslim men”. Many leading BNP members have been convicted of violent offences.