"Joe, are you suggesting that supporting the 'rights' of fascist organisations to speak freely is more important than supporting the rights of their victims and intended victims to live freely? You say we should get a sense of proportion because we 'only' have two fascist MEPs. So how many is too many? 10? 20? 30? By then, I fear, it would be too late to effectively stop them from doing serious damage"

Excactly, Spleen - that's rather the point of trying to do something about all of this now.

Regarding FAF: well, god knows the English folk scene is fragile and vulnerable enough at the moment, without the bloody Nazis as well. The BNP have published documents which encourage their activists to infiltrate folk activity. Nick Griffin has cited Kate Rusby as one of his favourite singers, and has turned up at several traditional events in the past couple of years. The BNP are selling my friends' music on their website, and the artists concerned are powerless to do anything about it. Does this sound like histrionics? In a nice, cosy American liberal way, should we just pretend it's not happening in the name of free speech and tolerance and put our fingers in our ears and go "la la la"? Or should we take a stand now, before it goes any further?

"For the record, people having pops at the likes of Richard Digance on probably spurious grounds has nothing to do with fighting fascism. The bringing of Vin Garbutt into the argument is utterly irrelevant - its an entirely different issue. And no-one's censoring him anyway."

Indeedio. Which is why I took the thread down. Personally, Vin Garbutt's political views would not prevent me from booking him: one person's opinion on a controversial subject is just as valid as mine, and he has every right to express it. I would book Roy Bailey or Billy Bragg, so quite clearly I've no right to NOT book someone just because they express views I don't necessarily agree with.

This is quite different to giving a platform to right-wing extremists. Defending the rights of people who, as Spleen has said, are organised specifically to deny the freedoms and rights of others is a whole different ballgame. You may not take the threat from the BNP seriously, but the fact that they've won these two seats shows that their very carefully orchestrated campaign to infiltrate mainstream politics is working. And it's not just about the fact that two seats have gone: have a look at who is occupying them. Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons. Tell me, if someone who denied the holocaust and had once advocated the bombing of synagogues got elected to represent a constituency in your area, what would you do?

A few years ago they would have been unelectable. Now they represent us. Whether they are 1 or 100, this sickens me. But do tell me, Joe - is it histrionics to be worried that their election further legitimises their politics, and strengthens their cause? At what point ought we to start taking action?