I am sure the leavers would admit that if the EU was to collapse due to the success of the hard right in mainstream general elections, that is not going to be good for anybody
Definitely agree.
The rise of the far right hasn't happened in a vacuum though - they are preying on the fears of those who feel they've no voice within the main political representation anymore.
UK has not had that problem to the same extent though, thankfully.
For all the hysteria over UKIP, they are not a far right party - more a one-policy party (as far as most voters are concerned, that is).
Yes, there are horrible individuals within the party & their supporters, but they are not the BNP or the EDL, however much some people desperately try to paint them as such.
And for the furthest right party that we have in the UK with any govt representation, they have only one MP - hardly a rabid rise of the far right, fully supported & sanctioned by the population.
The vote to Leave the EU should not be conflated with xenophobia or racism as it too often is - for most Leavers it was simply a vote to leave the EU & all that it was becoming (including its unraveling).