I think the poll demonstrates exactly the kind of superficial, 'tar everyone with the same brush' attitude which you've condemnded in the past when people have spoken out against certain ethnic groups in the past, Jamez. The fact that I do not believe the BNP should be outlawed does not mean that I consider myself to be an 'evil racist shitbag', nor I hope does anyone perceive me to be one.
At the most basic level, I cannot see how you can call for the outlawing of the BNP since is a political party (or at least claims to be, and has not been proven to be anything else). Outlawing any political party because you find their views repulsive would be a major attack on our civil liberties. You may argue that the BNP is a special case, but making a political party (*any* political party) illegal will set an extremely dangerous precedent which history has only shown can lead to dictatorships arising through the back door. A Labour government outlawing the BNP for being racist is not that far from a Labour government outlawing the Conservative Party for being sceptical of Europe. You think it would never happen? Well both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were arrived at through legitimate political means which started with the outlawing of political parties because they were too at odds with the party in power - and it wasn't that long ago either.
It's certainly the case that the police, and much of the media, are paralysed by fear at the thought of upsetting Muslims.
To say that the Terrorism Act is being applied selectively and politically would be something of an understatement.
Indeed, the term is 'positive discrimination' (something of a contradiction in terms, if ever there was one). It can be applied to all sorts of things, and leads to a nasty box ticking agenda of employers having x number of women, y number of disabled people, and z number of people from ethnic minorities in order to claim equality.
Indeed, I find the the clinical, corporate way in which 'equality' is being rolled out quite repulsive myself. Going off on a tangent here, but a supermarket near me a few years ago employed a checkout operator who was born with no arms. He used to work on a checkout pulling things through with his teeth and pressing the buttons on the till using a rod held in his mouth. It is not discriminatory to say that his disability made him unsuitable for the job, he was slow, needed assistance for heavy items, could not help shoppers to pack, and quite often struggled to speak by the serious exhertion being put on the muscles on his mouth. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't there for very long. Nevertheless he was employed - and exploited. They displayed him like a trophy, always putting him in a highly visible and prominent position so that their letterhead could wear it's little 'positive about disabled people' wheelchair symbol with pride, whilst the management (which no doubt had an inordinate number of women and black people on it's board in the interests of 'equality') could use him as an icon to point at as an example of what a wonderfully enlightened and unbiased employer they were. I see similar things happen when I see people from other ethnic backgrounds being employed in front line positions and then struggling to converse in broken English.
Most racial hatred in this country comes from this daft attitude - rather ironically the very yogurt-knitters (who are almost universally white and able-bodied) who are trying to ensure equality are in all likelihood responsible for much of the prejudice which exists.
As much as I dislike the the BNP, sometimes they do get it absolutely right. And they know they're right. They have a clever and well-educated man as their leader who puts across moderate and well-reasoned arguments. For example it's fair comment to say that Islam is incompatible with a Westernised democracy, and that multiculturalism has been an unmitigated disaster in many parts of the UK. The BNP use these arguments to win support and gain power, but given their history and roots it's probably safe to assume that far more sinister beliefs are their driving force.
Indeed, I think it's an entirely safe bet that the inner circle of the BNP have some extremely dubious beliefs at their core, and their public face is just that - a face hiding what they truly believe. However, that doesn't mean that everything they say is wrong. I cannot see how anyone can argue that multiculturalism works to any great degree. It doesn't work, it's just enforced through police-state like 'equality' tactics and whitewashing propaganda which constantly reminds us what a brilliant 'vibrant, dynamic, multicultural society' we live in - when quite clearly we don't. It's enforced through selective enforcement of legislation which allowed the Muslims to protest in an extremely threatening manner which was clearly inciting terrorism yet allowed to do so under 'freedom of speech' but saw an elderly, harmless, British man arrested at the Labour party conference under anti-terrorism legislation.
And yes, oppresive religious systems are wholy incompatible with a western democracy. Christianity only continues as a viable religion in the west because it went through a period of reformation (which only makes it even more hypocritical IMO) to allow it to fit around a structured, democratic society. Islam does not appeared to have done so. Unless it does, I see no reason to bend over backwards to allow it to fit in with western society.
A multiracial society can and does work. A multicultural one is nothing more than a theoretical pipe dream, and trying to force one on us has clearly been shown to be a complete disaster.
And I see nothing wrong with their argument of wanting to a see the revival of a definate British culture and sense of identity in this country - I firmly believe that part of the reason this country is such a shambles these days is that it tried to hard to adapt to fit in other cultures that it's own was allowed to die, leaving nothing left but oppresive government policies which label anyone arguing for a return to it as 'racist' and a variety of incompatible differing cultures being hydraulically riveted together (a move which, as I noted above, usually comes from people with nothing to do with those cultures) which has led to the feeling of resentment of other cultures and the lack of a definate culture of our own, and this is what I feel is the driving force behind the non-public views of certain BNP members.
The sad thing is, that the BNP is all we have to oppose the views of the yoghurt-knitters. As much as I would never join them and detest their leadership, there is no other party which dares to universally condemn ill-fitting multiculturalism. And I am convinced that that is why they have most of their membership. What's the best way to remove the BNP? By creating a viable alternative to them. If there were some other party out there argued against multiculturalism and positive discrimination, without having xenophobic, racist beliefs at it's core, then I'm convinced that it'd loose 90% of it's membership overnight.