That exodus, potentially catastrophic for Gordon Brown and for Britain, reflects not only voter discontent but the sinuous salesmanship of Mr Griffin. Diehard socialists worried about being homeless or jobless can tune out the rants on "Third World scroungers" and tell themselves the BNP is heir to the Labour Party for which their grandparents voted. Meanwhile, racists who wish that fascism was less furtive can glory in the belief that hatred, wrapped in the Union flag, is coming home.