How should I behave when introduced to the BNP MEPs?

People keep asking me how I will act when I first come face to face with the two BNP Euro-MPs, Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons. Without giving the matter much thought, I had been planning to treat them in the same way as I treat Labour, LibDem or UKIP MEPs: civilly and correctly. Heaven knows I disagree with their far-Left party. BNP activists, if their comments on my blog are anything to go by, combine an extraordinary rudeness about everyone else with an utter inability to accept the slightest criticism of their own behaviour. None the less, democracy is democracy, and I have little time for politicians who try to flaunt their niceness by refusing to deal with people who, whatever their opinions, have been duly elected.

So what’s the correct form? What do you do if you find yourself sharing a lift with Brons or a car with Griffin? I spent this afternoon tramping around Kew Gardens with my dear friend Tom and our families. Tom hasn’t expressed a strong political opinion in the 30 years I’ve known him. What did he reckon was the proper etiquette? “Why don’t you do this?” said Tom, clicking his heels together and covering his upper lip with his forefinger while raising the other arm.

I now can’t get the wretched picture out of my head. Like Basil Fawlty and “don’t mention the war”, the more I try to dismiss the idea, the more it consumes me. Help me, here, guys. What is the proper way to behave?

Daniel Hannan's Telegraph blog.

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