Hating the progressive patriot.

I know Billy Bragg isn't every one of my regular reader's cup of tea (to put it mildly) but his book "The Progressive Patriot" remains one of my favourite reads on the subject of "Britishness" and national identity generally.

It's disturbing to see that he's recently become the target of a BNP hate campaign:

You may have read reports in the press that I have been the target of a hate mail campaign. Some 20 residents of the village in which I live have received letters attacking me and my political views over the Xmas period, addressed randomly to the owner/occupier. It is clear from the content that this anonymous letter has been written by a disgruntled supporter of the British National Party.

Fortunately, his neighbours seem to be as disgusted with the letter as he is, but, as he points out its a reminder exactly why the BNP still can not be considered as part of our democratic mainstream:

Even though I have campaigned against the Tories in West Dorset for the past ten years, they have never stooped so low as to randomly circulate hate mail in the hope of undermining my credibility. This pathetic attempt at intimidation reminds voters that the BNP are not like any other political party – their methods betray them. Anyone who thought that the BNP were just ordinary people concerned about our society can now see them for what they really are.