Extremism in all its forms needs to be opposed

Iain Dale has set the hare amongst the hounds with this post "Why the BNP is Left Wing (And Fascist)." Inevitably, there has been a strong reaction from the whole spectrum of opinion.

I have often found that the left/right thing is framed in terms of "Left is 'right' and Right is 'wrong'" so, inevitably, anyone who is seen to be outside the 'normal' acceptable limits of this definition (eg the BNP) are considered to be right wing. On the other the hand, people with views that veer far to the left of the continuum are seen as 'extreme lefties' and usually dismissed as a 'very small minority'.

But surely the point is that these latter two groups are "extremists", either of which would inflict untold tragedy and misery on the rest of us if they ever came to power.

Fortunately, we are not in a position (yet?) where any (either?) of the ruling parties are so bloody far from the centre that the electorate would lurch from one extreme to the other.

But we need to be eternally vigilant!