Hugh Muir: Guardian Diary, BNP Refuse UKIP Reject

Why ever would they do that? Because of Ashley Mote MEP's criminal record, for benefit fraud as it goes. Ash kept getting his pay cheques while incarcerated but sadly could not pull any of the usual travel and subsistence fiddles. Via Tim Worstall via Dale's Daily Dozen.

Here's a little quote from our previous coverage of Mote (72) and his Tory antecedents:

Nirj Deva MEP gave Ash a good shake as he joined fatherland's fatheads*.

But although this was reproduced on Conservative Home responses include the claim that Mote was an active Tory for a long time before defecting to UKIP. In fact the commentary is very informative. It seems Churchill conceded, "If I were Italian, I should don the fascist black shirt."

* Le Pen and Mussolini among them.