"So how often do you hear genuinely intended violence described as "perfectly reasonable duffing up"

No - this is said with bitter irony."

The problem is, Lox, that the written word has to be very skilfully written if feelings like 'irony' are to be conveyed. And, sadly, these nuances are easily missed by the reader, as seems to be evident on here.

BB (who is a thoroughly decent, intelligent and civilised man, and a respected political commentator) may not have intended his words to be taken literally but, unfortunately, they will be, by those who it suits or who don't have the intelligence to recognise 'irony'. As evidenced by a fair number of posts on here (some from surprising directions).

A good writer/orator needs to be unambiguous in his choice of words - coded messages aren't a good way to get a message across to the masses.

Exhortations to violence have no place in civilised society - except as the absolute last resort, and in the face of imminent attack by an aggressor. We're a long way from that place right now - two swallows do not a Summer make, and the BNP have a very long way to go before they achieve any real presence in UK politics.

IMHO
10/4