A nice neighborhood to have bad habits in

I don't really think it's a good versus evil thing. I see more as this. Neither Labour or Conservatives really stand for anything other than being in power. They have no real principles. Power comes from votes. The easiest way to win votes is to promise people what they think they want (and try and scare the rest into thinking the same). In this scenario cheap vote winners are policies that pander to widely held prejudices so that's what they do; immigrant bashing, "tough on (largely non-existent) crime", "immorality" (whatever that is) and so on. We have the same thing in Canada only worse as our "natural party of power", the Liberals hasn't held a irm principle in its entire history. The sad thing is the whole process alienates people who really don't see the point in voting for The Mirror versus The Mail or v.v, so they stay away. Net result, governments get to claim a "democratic mandate" with the support of a quarter of the electorate and slimeballs like the BNP gain strength, even if it's only relative.