BBC defend decision to invite the BNP to appear on tonight's "Question Time"

"Deputy director general Mark Byford has said it is not the BBC's role to censor the BNP as criticism mounts ahead of the party's Question Time appearance.

He said the BNP's Euro vote meant the BBC had to allow it on as part of its "responsibility of due impartiality".

Cabinet minister Peter Hain had asked the BBC to rethink its invitation to the whites-only political party.

Ex-London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the BBC would bear moral responsibility for any "spike" in racist attacks.

And the Equality and Human Rights Commission said the party's membership rules were currently illegal and it should not be regarded by the BBC "as equivalent to other political parties which abide by the law".

Protesters are expected to picket BBC Television Centre in London later ahead of the appearance of British National Party leader Nick Griffin, who is a Euro MP, on the hour-long flagship BBC political programme Question Time."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8319596.stm

Not much longer to wait now until BNP leader, Nick Griffin, appears on the BBC's "Question Time".

I can't deny that it will be gripping, if very uncomfortable, TV but not sure if it is a good idea or not.

On the one hand, it is a good idea as it keeps the BNP where we can see them and there is the potential to make Mr Griffin look a a total prat (which he is), but on the other, it's bringing him and his cohorts into the political mainstream.

I can see that going horribly wrong.

Will others be watching ? Do Polish people living in the UK think the BNP are anything for them to worry about ?

Everyone has the right to say what they think - they also.

There will only be one winner tonight and that will be Nick Griffin. AS they say.. " any publicity is good publicity"

When the inadequate wretches who are considering voting BNP actually see what a nutcase he is, they might think again.

Griffin isn't a good debater. I remember him being interviewed by Paxman a few years ago, swearing blind that Britain is a poor country.

And his comments this week about hanging the UKs most senior generals are going to be hard to defend.

Where there's a mystique or romantic image around such people, they may have an appeal for some. When they're exposed as banal and obsessive political anoraks, the interest fades.

At the end of the day they are a legitimate political party why should they be banned from the BBC.

That is a possible outcome.

What doesn't really help is the number of anti-BNP protesters outside TV Centre as they are just adding fuel to the fire, making it easier for Griffin to bang on about having his right to free speech taken away.

If he was allowed in without the usual banner waving and egg throwing, it would unnerve him and hopefully cause him to say something even more stupid than what we are expecting.


This the other, more preferable, outcome.

I think that Bonnie Greer was a strange choice for one of the other panelists. I thought that they would have gone for some black and British, rather than black and American.

I hope that Sayeeda Warsi (Conservative shadow minister for community cohesion and a British-born Muslim) gives him a right verbal pasting. I hope they get seated next to each other so we can see Griffin squirm at having to sit so close to someone that isn't white, is British AND is a muslim ! He'll hate it !

What time will this be shown, Mister H? If I remember, QT started at 22 00 GMT. It will be interesting to hear to what extent they have toned it down.

Yeah hate the hater.

It's 2235 in UK, meaning 2335 here.

Thanks, jonni. I might have fallen asleep by then :(

I've got an early start tomorrow, but might just stay up.

come on, you've posted on the forums at later hours :)

what channel will they broadcast it on?

As Jonni said, it's on about 10.30pm (after the news), but it does get repeated at some stage over the weekend on News 24.

I've been looking at News 24 and Sky News just now and there are so many protesters outside TV Centre that it won't be easy to get Griffin in without trouble of some kind.

It seems that if Griffin can't sweep in through the main entrance unhindered, it may not go ahead anyway.

That's pretty tragic. Let the enforcement authorities decide if he has traversed the boundary line.

Yes the rent a mob out to do the very same thing they accuse others of doing.

That's true, but tomorrow's a bit of a marathon.

Hard to imagine them cancelling it, but I suppose anything can happen. They've just said he's inside the studio already. The crowds outside are growing though.

If anyone here wants to watch, there are links to get British TV over the internet somewhere on this forum. They work well (at least with VLC player - maybe Windows Media Player too). It's on BBC1.

True, maybe that's why I need to get an early night, frd. I defend their decision to free speech. They can censor and edit like they did on 9/11, LOL. Cable pullers ;) ;)

I thought that BBC Wales had a ban on broadcasting the BNP ?

According to News 24 he has managed to get in somehow.


I agree. They're just a bunch of loud students.

Ah well, at least he won't pus*yfoot around. If he remains rational and shows that he has done his homework then it should make for interesting viewing.

They do, but Question Time isn't produced by BBC Wales.

BBC Wales aren't going to have him on their programmes (remember he is Welsh and lives in Wales), but as far as I know this doesn't affect programmes recorded by other parts of the BBC.

I suppose this just illustrates everything that is Great about being a Brit :-(

In a way yes, three and a half nations, all with their own character, traditions and views, one shared country with common values.

Not to mention that (as long as Griffin's loonies don't get their way) we're a great big melting pot.

Absolutely not. The BNP have no MEPs in Scotland.

And only two in the whole of Britain. Not that Scotland lacks bigotry more than the rest of the UK. Let's hope they don't get a presence north of the border too.

Indeed Scotland does have bigotry ( only this week the Orange Order was telling its members to vote for anyone but the SNP ) but the BNP is primarily an English party.

I've just seen the "peaceful" extreme-left protests on TV. I never realised it was illegal to have anything but left-wing political views in this country, but it certainly seems to be going that that way these days.

I've never posted on an right-wing message board, but I have posted to message boards with an extreme-left wing agenda (you have to know your enemy - and the extreme right is just as big an enemy as the extreme left), and one of the things I noted is that all those talking about "worker solidarity" etc have rarely had any meaningful work, mainly because their well-off Home Counties parents can fund their gap years, extended university education, and bale them out if times get hard - while the rest of us are too busy making a living to take a day off and spend it attacking police officers outside the BBC.

I suspect that many members from that particular board I referred to above will be having their usual, almost entirely white "Metropolitan" middle-class, apres-protest party at a pub in a well-known south London pub later today, just like they always do. Funny how none of them were ever outside the mills up North when they were closing down. Interfered with their weed-and-beer parties down south, I expect. So much for "worker solidarity". But I digress... ;)

I suppose what I really want to say is that, even though I don't agree with Communists, I think they should have the right to state their opinion. The BNP quite clearly shouldn't be a major issue in UK politics, but as every other political party buries its head in the sand, and labels anyone who dares to question current policy as "racists", someone else will arise to fill the gap. And there is a huge gap, because no other UK party appears to represent ordinary workers (of whatever race, incidentally) or the issues affecting them. And, like it or not, immigration is a huge part of that equation.

We've been betrayed by the right, left, and everyone else in between, and for many, the BNP appears to be the only solution, the only real opposition to the treacherous LibLabCon cartel. I can't remember the last time a member of any other political party knocked on my door - but the BNP has, on several occasions, and has leafleted my house several times. The only other leaflet was from the Greens!

I'm probably going to miss tonight's Question Time, but banning the BNP from appearing is even more likely to increase their popularity than allowing them to appear - remember what happened to the USA during Prohibition? if nothing else, tonight's programme (if the Left allow it to take place, that is) may at least serve as a huge kick up the rear for the apathetic British voting public - and that can't be a bad thing.

Interesting watching twitter tonight on the Question Time broadcast http://search.twitter.com/search?q=bbcquestiontime

Although trying to watch Nick Griffin's is virtually impossible as he is getting over 150 tweets a min http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Nick+Griffin

Nice post OsiedleRuda ( above but one).


The protests outside the BBC studios. Just watched this on BBC News. Can't help but notice but the 500 - 1000 demonstrators..............theyre all...white ! Is this not odd ? Given the BNP's agenda? Sorry to be so un PC - direct but would you not think they would be.........black ? asian ? etc. Why is this ? Also given that Shepards bush is a " multicultural area"

You're spot on with that.

They would achieve a lot more in the long run just by allowing Griffin through the doors without a problem. As soon as he opens his mouth, he'll more than likely say something dreadful and anyone mad enough to even consider voting for him will probably think again.