To see how fascism can be throttled, look at Barking

[pampango]

The Battle for Barking, by director Laura Fairrie, who followed the campaign there for over a year. ... After a year of filming, it's not surprising that she developed some good relationships with BNP members. Instead of the frightening fascist group we might expect, they seem a motley band of angry, worried, frightened people. Yes, they indulge in violence – there are some ugly scenes when BNP canvassers get stuck in to their political opponents. But they also suffer violence and abuse too – not surprising, you may say, when they are peddling a message of hate.

Housing, crime and benefit fraud have become huge drivers of xenophobic politics, here and across Europe. Deeply unpleasant rhetoric and posters are being used in an anti-migrant referendum campaign in Switzerland; in Germany mainstream politicians have dramatically hardened their language; in France, Sarkozy has been sweeping up Roma families.

Talking to Hodge and her team, it's clear that they recognised early on that it was no good simply telling the people of Barking that the BNP were fascists, though some of their policies undoubtedly are. What Hodge did was to burrow deep into the community – holding endless tea parties, street meetings, writing letters and sending questionnaires – to find out what her constituents were worried about – immigration, but also "pavements and potholes", as she says. And this is something she's been doing over a number of years, not just during the election campaign.

Being alarmed by fast change doesn't make you a fascist. Being worried about wages, or concerned about a shortage of affordable housing doesn't make you an extremist. These are real concerns that need to be openly expressed and thrashed out through the political system: the failure to do that creates the conditions for fascism. When politicians mimic the language of the extreme right, they play into their hands. When they address fears that can be manipulated, politicians throttle fascism. That's the lesson of Barking.
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The director make the BNP sound a lot like the tea party - "a motley band of angry, worried, frightened people" though the BNP has an expressly pro-white agenda which the tea party has not overtly signed on to.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/28/barking-politics-fears-housing-unemployment