UKIP know that BNP are political dynamite, they have been wiped off the face of the political universe. By publicly denying BNP members to join, you are painting a public picture that you are not the same as them, which is what they want, although many of their policies broadly fall in line with each other. How many BNP member would they attract anyway? There are hardly any to begin with.
Absolutely not. In my eyes, they make the Tories look moderate compared to themselves, which, in my view, can only help the Tories. @red1 said that UKIP wanted to shrink the state, and you replied that he had fallen into the trap of believing that they were 'more Tory than the Tories.
Firstly, I invite you to have a look at a Stuart Wheeler's quote, of UKIP;
UKIP's Stuart Wheeler: "Our policies, except for a few, are very, very similar to the Conservatives" #newsnight
Also, straight from the UKIP policy page of their website;
– UKIP will abolish the Department of Energy and Climate Change and scrap green subsidies.
– UKIP will abolish the Department for Culture Media and Sport.
– UKIP will reduce Barnett Formula spending and give devolved parliaments and assemblies further tax powers to compensate.
– UKIP will introduce an option for students to take an Apprenticeship Qualification instead of four non-core GCSEs which can be continued at A-Level. Students can take up apprenticeships in jobs with certified professionals qualified to grade the progress of the student.
– UKIP supports the principle of Free Schools that are open to the whole community and uphold British values.
– Existing schools will be allowed to apply to become grammar schools and select according to ability and aptitude. Selection ages will be flexible and determined by the school in consultation with the local authority.
– UKIP will abolish green taxes and charges in order to reduce fuel bills.
– UKIP supports a simplified, streamlined welfare system and a benefit cap.
– We will review the BBC Licence Fee with a view to its reduction. Prosecution of non-payments of the Licence Fee would be taken out of the criminal sphere and made a civil offence.
If you can pose a counter argument as to how any of the above policies are not, as @red1 said, shrinking the state, I would be very interested to hear them.
Finally, while looking through the UKIP policies, I found this;
– Businesses should be able to discriminate in favour of young British workers.
All I know is the the Oxford English Dictionary defines discrimination as this:
make an unjust or prejudicial distinction in the treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, sex, or age.
"existing employment policies discriminate against women"
synonyms: be biased, show prejudice, be prejudiced;
treat differently, treat as inferior, treat unfairly, put at a disadvantage,disfavour, be intolerant towards;
victimize
Ouch, UKIP.
tl;dr mate