You see, being called a racist once or twice even though it isn't true most people will just shrug it off but when it's a relentless constant barrage like you lot are throwing in then it's you who's crossing behind the fence.
We were discussing the fact that you (and few other vocal members in this thread) have a long history of providing support for extreme far right political groups with certain agendas.
You are under the impression that it is OK to support political party who's very founder personally calls "Mein Kampf" his "bible" and is known to create racial tensions, as long as you personally don't collect similar literature and don't paint banners for their rallies. But we are here to tell you that it's not OK.
You need to realise that it doesn't really matter if if you subscribe to all of their ideas or not. It does not matter if you personally believe you hold views that are racist or act on them. You have knowingly selected people who do promote such views and do perform such acts to represent you in council, in the country or even across the continent. You actively support these people. You give your vote and provide electoral "go ahead" for their future actions. You give legitimacy to the party and people who actively pursue those agendas.
And it's not a blameless game. It's not a discussion in a pub. It is not a virtual poll on the internet. It is potentially five years of local, national or even pan european economy affected by you giving your voice to group of people that often knowingly damage British economy to create tensions and reach their political agenda. You've selected them to represent you.
What I take umbrage with is you think that anyone who votes UKIP (that hasn't touched BNP with a bargepole) is also racist. And believe me, that's a vast majority here and everywhere in the country
I said "UKIP voters have a history of supporting racists or nationalists" and you all went "whoa, whoa, libel, where is the proof". Well, I love true stories and I do have relatively good memory of topics we discussed with some members of this forum in the past. From there it was just a question of finding exact location of the post I thought I remembered. And I could demonstrate without much effort that the most vocal supporters of UKIP in this forum trying to paint peace signs and rainbows above Nigels on every page, indeed used to or still do support extreme right wing. True story.
Now, it's a democracy and it is not illegal to be "that guy". It's not illegal to give your vote to the fringe nut jobs or nationalists. All I wanted to achieve was for them to stop playing disney characters and own up to their true colours (I'm happy that spankingtexan did, I now have more respect for him). Of course claiming that all 300+ of you voting UKIP in this poll are ex BNP supporters, would be wrong (to various degree), but perhaps it will help the more impulse driven UKIP supporters to open their eyes slightly wider and see who they decided to share barricades with.
You thought that if you elect and support political group "ironically" or "in protest" or "to rub Tory/Labour nose in it" it will somehow excuse the actual choice. It doesn't. This is who you propped. Party supported by closet racists, ex BNP voters and right wing loonies. Perhaps your vote was meant as one of reasonable, ordinary citizen, but your vote doesn't dilute the bigger picture, does not turn them into something more reasonable than what they really are and doesn't make the party manifesto any less sensationalist and xenophobic. You crossed that line, you joined that camp. This is where you stand, where you are now. This is how people see you. You asked why. We demonstrated why, and it was not without a good reason.
