Those of you who regularly follow this blog will know that I loathe the BNP and all it stands for. Therefore, I have mixed views on the BBC’s decision to provide its Leader, Nick Griffin, with a prime time television platform to articulate the cocktail of racism, misinformation and downright lies that he was able to spew out directly into people’s living rooms last night.
Of course, I get the argument that in a democracy a political party that secures a million votes, and with it seats in the European Parliament, is de facto ‘entitled’ to have its say. But was Question Time the right place for them to have it?
If the idea was to present Griffin as a bit of a buffoon who would clearly sell his own Grandmother for a vote, then the BBC can be congratulated on a job well done.
But, he was not nailed as the evil fascist that he is, and at times the other four panellists missed their target by all trying to outdo one another as they baited the ‘star turn’.
It was, in my view, an ill judged, inappropriate setting to really drill down into the policies and culture of the BNP. An hour with Paxman would have been far more effective.
Griffin will have felt, and certainly looked, uncomfortable during his sixty minutes in the spotlight. But, as news emerges of the BNP website recording a record number of hits following the programme, he will feel it was a discomfort worth suffering.
One final point on this issue. Why do mainstream politicians feel obliged to suggest that BNP voters are not necessarily racist? If, as the Liberal, Labour and Conservative representatives claimed last night, the BNP benefitted from a ‘protest’ vote, then why haven’t we seen a glut of Green Party candidates elected onto Council’s and the European Parliament. If you voted for the BNP then you are a racist!