Is the BNP / marmite-gate scandal a well-deserved blow for democracy?

To be sung to the tune of Postman Pat;

Nasty Nick, Nasty Nick – your right-wing views, they make us sick

Inciting racial hatred

Your ego’s so inflated

I’d like to poke your one remaining eye

The BNP, BNP – your racial slurs just aren’t for me

You hate Asians, gays or Belgians

You say there’s no black Welshmen

Pit workers in Glamorgan don’t agree

Everybody knows you wear your sister’s clothes

All protestors smile as they wait to egg you

Lately, you can never be sure if there’s knocks… rings… skinheads at your door

National Front, National Front – it won’t be hard to make this scan

The Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus

Will never share in your views

And I’ve heard the Jews are not your biggest fans

Nazi Nick, Nazi Nick – on ‘Question Time’ you weren’t so slick

You claimed they were a ‘lynch mob’

But the crap that came from your gob

Just proved you are a total chuffing… wazzock

They usually do, the problem is that the BNPS are racist and Marmite is vile, having read a BNP forum their sad, arrogant, paranoid and totally devoid of humour comments are evident. Still it is a worrying thing when Boris Johnson becomes the champion of democracy. The thing is Nick Griffin became a MEP due to a combination of poor turn out and the voters wanted to punish the main parties over the expenses scandal. The same situation as in the late 1970's when the National front was used as a protest vote, yet some people ignore the fact that some of the policies they were using, were the policies that the Conservatives were using in the 1960's. The BNP likes to play the victim in many cases to gain sympathy. The old adage that any publicity is good. The BNP's opponents are continually providing Nick Griffin with publicity that he wouldn't otherwise get. If he'd attended and and been ignored by the protesters, it might have warranted a small paragraph at the bottom of an inside page in most newspapers. Now he'll probably be on the front pages having been mentioned at length in all the TV news bulletins. Still when he was banned from the garden party people tend to forget that his colleague Andrew Brons, was attending the party and there was no mention. The Marmite situation certainly keeps the party in the spotlight even when it has lost many of their councillors and all their deposits in the recent elections. Curious how the BNP supporters come out of the wood work on these questions - maybe a marmite soaked trap might work on them. The thing is the whole Unilever thing gave the BNP publicity though not in the way the BNP hoped.

I don't know, I make it no secret that I am not a BNP supporter, to put it mildly, and am prepared to defend my position, but if I were a BNP supporter I would frankly be jumping up and down now in my little red, white and blue socks for all the free publicity they get from the BBC and the rest of the media in general. For instance the Radio 4 headlines yesterday carried the story that Nick Griffin was going to attend the Queen's Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, big story, is it really any different from "LibDem back bencher has weekend at Margate and buys some chips"?

The tragedy is that even if the BNP faces financial ruin and disbands their ideas are never going to go away till the rational arguments against them are made more public.

I think you're all getting a bit carried away here... This is a marketing campaign which is taking 'a light-hearted look' etc at the up and coming election. It's another extension of the 'love it or hate it' campaign which has been quite successful for the company. Like all well-thought ad campaigns it's got everyone talking about the product in question. If the hate party is supposed to be the BNP then New Labour would have to be the 'Love' party. Gordon Brown? Ed Balls? Lurve? I rest my case – lighten up you lot!

the marmite story was just an excuse for the bnp to use the brand to catch a few eyes and a rant about the "injustice" the bnp faces. but marmite is iconically british so i can't see how this was in any way clever.

i also agree that people need representing (i think working class is a bit narrow, i would like a party that represents anyone who needs representing) and i hope labour will go this way, or coalesce with the greens. i expect the bnp will continue to lose momentum as the main parties take up their core "issues".

Unilever did not base anything on the BNP. When it comes to the hate party, yes, you can see things in them that the BNP have, but then you can also see that with other parties as well.

While I despise the BNP, they do represent around a million voters, and I would like to see the end of the BNP based on politics, not financial ruin. I want the BNP to be beaten fair and square at the ballot box, and no where else.

The BNP have been using the technique of playing the political underdog to gain some political points, the fact that Nick Griffin tried to use his ticket to the Royal Garden party for political ends resulted in him being barred from the palace garden party. He got jumped by Peter Tatchell who called him a "gutless coward". Two of Mr. Griffin's entourage then grabbed and pushed Mr. Tatchell as the BNP leader left the building. The whole having a thin skin - when he is accused of being a racist he denies it, even when the BNP manifesto has paragraphs that are inherently racist. As for Marmite it is vile it is an empirical fact. Still I wonder if he would be upset by The Doug Anthony Allstars song - Mexican Hitler.

"Does this only show up the BNP to be very sad / arrogant / paranoid / totally devoid of humour and completely inept? What do you think?

"

Sad, No/ Arrogant No, Paranoid No,devoid of humour and completely inept No.

But naive Yes.

You also said Democracy deserved a blow, why is that.

Copyright laws are in place all over the world.

Instead of Democracy, would you rather live under a Fascist regime.

You're one of those UAF muppets arent you.

Funny, I seem to remember that the Marmite case was settled out of court, and the details were made confidential. So, may I ask where you plucked the figure of £100,000 from? Nobody got sued, and you have no idea how much the settlement was or even if there was one at all, but don't let that stop you.

"Not targetting [sic] anyone specific" eh? So it's a coincidence that Steve Heaving came from Barnet (like Nick,) and went to Cambridge (like Nick,) then this ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moehMa91clo

came out a few days after this happened

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A_WCDnmzQ0

Yeah, real coincidence.

Unilever were taking the "P," but lost their sense of humour when they got some back. I bet you won't be seeing anymore of The Hate Party or Steve Heaving, but the BNP are still very much alive, so who kicked who's ar$e?

There are always going to be idiots. No amount of politics is going to increase their brain power.

If you have a party based upon stupidity, it's hardly surprising that their membership and their leadership is made up of the cerebrally challenged. Any political defeat by the BNP will just be treated by their membership as another blow to the cause by the organised powers of whoever they hate this week. Financial ruin means they will be less able to compete in future elections giving the half witted less opportunity to elect the half-baked.