So, the BNP is sending an MEP to Brussels in the shape of leader Nick Griffin following last night’s election results.

It’s a small crumb of comfort that Liverpool returned a smaller percentage of votes for the hateful party than other boroughs, but only a small one.

It goes without saying that this is terrible news. The BNP are racists, whether they deny it or not, but it’s the awful stupidity I’ve witnessed from BNP supporters over the last few weeks that it is really galling.

I’m not sure whether they actually know it or not, but the popular recent claim by BNP apologists that Hitler was a socialist goes to show just how screwy they all are. Until you’ve been patronised by a thick racist you haven’t lived.

I guessed at the time this was some sledgehammer sleight of hand to deny the obvious links between Nazis and The British National Party, namely the bit about disliking people of different race, sexuality and religion.

Then again, I think the majority of them really are daft enough to peg Adolf as a New Labourite.

I’ve said before that I think the great disconnect between politics and the public is the way politicians conduct themselves, with the media as willing associates.

I simply don’t think people can be bothered wading through the assaults of information that the media offers, and I think the sight of suited white men bellowing baroque insults at each other is likely to be equally off-putting.

I console myself that the BNP results amount to a protest vote (or abstention) over expenses, and while the greedy MPs (can anyone stand the sight of Hazel Blears’ smug fat face?) are ultimately to blame, the way the media has gone apeshit over expenses has whipped people up into a frenzy.

MPs of all persuasions have been made to look like a self-satisfied, greedy elite fixing their expenses and plotting away childishly within Westminster, while the BNP has been getting on the stump, styling themselves as common people who just want to uphold British values.

Our politicians and media have conspired to create a perfect storm of discontent in the country, and the BNP reaped the rewards. We’ve forgotten how to educate people about politics in the UK, and it showed last night.

That said, I hope all the stayaway voters feel suitably ashamed of themselves now that our worst fears are confirmed.

The fact that all of this has come on the anniversary of the D-Day landings is particularly sad. What those veterans must make of the North West’s decision to send Nick Griffin to the European Parliament doesn’t bear thinking about.

They went to fight a man like Griffin 65 years ago, only for him to sneak in the back door draped in the union flag. We should all feel ashamed.