There can be little doubt that, had he been alive today, Sir Winston Churchill would have been in the British National Party.

This British icon’s views on immigration and Islam prove the point,  whatever his grandson, Nicholas Soames, might have to say about the BNP leader Nick Griffin posing for a photograph with a Churchill image.

Consider the following quote on Islam, written by Churchill in his book The River War: An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan (first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50, London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).

“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.

“The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity.

“The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

“Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities — but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.

“Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”

Sir Winston’s comments on immigration would also disqualify him from membership of today’s Conservative Party. During a cabinet meeting in early February 1953, he remarked that he had considered blocking all immigration to Britain because he feared a growing “coloured population” was posing a threat to Britain’s social stability.

Churchill, then 79, told Cabinet colleagues that he did not “want a parti-coloured UK.” At a Cabinet meeting on February 3, 1954, the prime minister told colleagues: “Problems will arise if many coloured people settle here. Are we to saddle ourselves with colour problems in UK?”

Churchill said immigrants were attracted to Britain by the welfare state and he said: “Public opinion in UK won’t tolerate it once it gets beyond certain limits.”

If Churchill were to make either of these speeches to a Conservative Party meeting today, he would be expelled – and hence he would be in the BNP.