Your opinion on Nick Griffin's (BNP) scheduled appearance on Question Time?

[DreamSparrow]

THE BBC has provoked controversy by giving the British National party a platform for the first time on Question Time, its top current affairs programme.

Nick Griffin, the BNP leader who was elected to the European parliament in June, is expected to be on the show in October. The corporation has decided that the far-right party deserves more airtime because it has demonstrated “electoral support at a national level”.

The move has caused consternation among politicians, with some Labour MPs and at least one cabinet minister pledging to boycott Question Time. They fear the BNP will use the publicity to promote a racist agenda.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6823364.ece

Any opinions on Nick Griffin appearing on Question Time tomorrow? In the interests of democracy, is it right that all groups should be allowed to air their views? Or are the BNP a fascist organisation which have no right to a platform? Are you welcoming the potential to humiliate the BNP? Or perhaps you're a BNP supporter who thinks it's great that your leader can finally participate like all the others?

Rumours are that Jack Straw or John Denham might be Labour's choice of representative on the panel. Good selection? Who would you choose as a panellist?

 

[Ace Bandage]

I'm guessing it's a different Nick Griffin than this one.

Even so, here's my favorite quote from him:
A black guy has more wardrobe options than I do. He can wear a hat cocked to the side, a Lebron James jersey, and extremely baggy pants and people will say, "he looks good." If I do that, I look like I'm part of the Make a Wish Foundation... and it's my special day.

 

[tartanterrier]

I think everyone has a right to say whatever they like.Not that Nick
Griffin's appearance will make me vote BNP anyway,because it would
really be a sad day for Britain if the BNP did get voted in.

If I were to vote i'd probably vote Liberal at the moment

 

[nightowl]

griffin's scum. a nasty, racist hiding behind a smart suit. i'd prefer not to see him on the programme but in terms of whether it'll do him any good politically i doubt whether many of the disaffected white working class people that the bnp targets watch question time anyway.

 

[BlueBalls]

He should be allowed on; he has the right to air his views no matter how much I or anyone else disagrees with them. I am hoping whoever's on the panel does make him answer for himself and his party when those particular bigoted opinions are brought up and put him straight on many of the falsehoods his party promotes to try to gain more uneducated voters. I would think stronger characters would be best served being on the panel to do exactly that. I don’t have a particular preference on who that should actually be. These days whoever the special “celebrity” or journalist guest is usually has the loudest voice on the panel so it really depends on that. That just shows you how much the show has slipped in quality when the celebrity has more say than the people who actually make the political decisions. But then again, as long as the BNP are made to look foolish and no matter who it’s by, I’ll be pleased.

I haven’t watched Question Time in a while, maybe I’ll watch this episode just to see what happens. This is probably playing right into the BBC’s hands, but never mind.

 

[om3ga]

Nick Griffin should appear, so that he can be revealed as the odious scumbag that he is. I hope though, that he is not pelted with eggs or other missiles - it would just make him look like an undeserved "champion of free speech"

It's no good the other parties wanting to boycott the man. Politicians in all our mainstream parties have been exposed as shallow, corrupt, perfidious turncoats with no love for the voter, except when an election is in the offing, so they can turn out their shiny soundbites, press the flesh and get enough votes to climb back in power and keep passing their expense claims for moat-cleaning, duck houses & porn movies...

The BNP are attracting more than the usual far-right vote, because I think the British public are fed up to the back teeth with double-standards in the highest offices, stealth taxes and vacillating in place of clear decision-making.

If the BNP gets enough votes to enter the heart of British democracy, the blame falls on the main parties for disgusting enough voters to make them either stay at home or vote for the ultra-right.

:2 cents:

 

[nightowl]

The BNP are attracting more than the usual far-right vote, because I think the British public are fed up to the back teeth with double-standards in the highest offices, stealth taxes and vacillating in place of clear decision-making.

there may be an element of truth there but it is not the main reason. if you look at areas where the bnp has done well recently, barking and dagenham for example, then those are areas with very mixed populations and significant recent immigration. barking and dagenham has had a large influx of eastern european immigrants recently. if it were truly a case of people being pissed off with politicians generally then why have the bnp never made any sort of breakthrough in working class areas experiencing significant poverty such as the welsh valleys for example? perhaps because those areas do not have significant mixed populations. i think people who vote bnp and claim that it is a protest are generally looking for an excuse for their own racism. whatever so-called policies the bnp may present on issues such as health, education etc, it is basically a one-issue party and that issue is race. there is no getting away from that.

 

[mrtrebus]

We live in a democracy. I loathe the BNP but if we start banning certain political parties then where is democracy? Having said that, the BNP advocate violence against minorities and are themselves an undemocratic party. So I dunno really.

 

[nightowl]

We live in a democracy. I loathe the BNP but if we start banning certain political parties then where is democracy? Having said that, the BNP advocate violence against minorities and are themselves an undemocratic party. So I dunno really.

people say they deserve a platform as a party with elected representatives but what would happen if they ever got into power? do we believe that democracy (well our so called democracy) would continue? would we be seeing the police dragging people off to the airports who don't fit in with the bnp's idea of ethnic purity? before anyone says that is too far fetched a scenario let's not forget that behind the smart suits the bnp are still a bunch of hitler admirers, holocaust deniers and the like. maybe the following quote is useful.

“Only one thing could have stopped our movement. If our adversaries had understood its principle, and from the first day had smashed with the utmost brutality the nucleus of our new movement. " Adolf Hitler

 

[mrtrebus]

people say they deserve a platform as a party with elected representatives but what would happen if they ever got into power? do we believe that democracy (well our so called democracy) would continue? would we be seeing the police dragging people off to the airports who don't fit in with the bnp's idea of ethnic purity? before anyone says that is too far fetched a scenario let's not forget that behind the smart suits the bnp are still a bunch of hitler admirers, holocaust deniers and the like. maybe the following quote is useful.

“Only one thing could have stopped our movement. If our adversaries had understood its principle, and from the first day had smashed with the utmost brutality the nucleus of our new movement. " Adolf Hitler

Yes the worrying thing about the BNP is the comparison with Oswald Mosely in the 30s. But would they really get in power? Would the majority of the British voting public vote for them? If so part of the blame would also lie at the door of the main parties for not engaging with the voting public on these issues. Do we deny them a platform because we are scared that they would get in power? Maybe the best option would be to meet their views head on in a political debate rather than marginalise them which could have the reverse effect?
& the issue is also this, once we start censoring certain political parties because the majority don't believe in those minority views where does it end? The debate is not just about the specifics of the views of the BNP but the legitimised censorship of political parties. Can that ever be justified?

 

[cl0ckw0rkman]

I'm guessing it's a different Nick Griffin than this one.

Even so, here's my favorite quote from him:
A black guy has more wardrobe options than I do. He can wear a hat cocked to the side, a Lebron James jersey, and extremely baggy pants and people will say, "he looks good." If I do that, I look like I'm part of the Make a Wish Foundation... and it's my special day.

so i'm guessing that you are white, and your statement IS true. and that makes me kinda sad that it is.

 

[Big Poppa Pump]

Yeah, put him on Question Time and the people of Britain can see him for the small minded c**t that he is. If I ever met Nick Griffin I'd relish in telling him that the most powerful man in the world is a black man. As a politician, Griffin won't amount to shit. :ak47:

 

[rintoe]

Have him on by all accounts. If the BNP never actually get a chance to appear on TV then they retain a certain amount of Mystique. People with low IQ's can be swayed by that alone.

Lets face it, give him a chance to talk on any public broadcast and he can only hurt himself and the BNP.

Don't all cry at once now.

 

[StridentOnanist]

Will that edition of QT be a racist special?
Blackburn striker El Hadji Diouf could make an appearance too!

 

[jumbo_jim]

He is the leader of a legal political party so he deserves the right to be heard. If he does as most expect and is revealed as a racist hatemonger it will harm his chance of gaining extra support in the next election and may sway some of there supporters to vote elsewhere.

 

[Bigoldowls]

If we truly believe that we live in a democracy then, irrespective of whether you agree with the policies of the BNP, they should be given an opportunity to air their views. It is then up to the electorate, based on the evidence they've heard, whether to support them or not.

 

[nightowl]

the rights of such an odious bunch of hatemongers to air their views is an interesting topic. at the moment, probably because they are a million miles from any meaningful power, it is easy to say let them have their say (and hope that they hang themselves through their own words). however, imagine a different scenario. if there was a real threat of the bnp actually achieving power (unlikely we hope) would people still think they should have a platform? would people be happy to see the bnp in power because it is the outcome of democracy or would they then consider taking action to stop them?

 

[mrtrebus]

the rights of such an odious bunch of hatemongers to air their views is an interesting topic. at the moment, probably because they are a million miles from any meaningful power, it is easy to say let them have their say (and hope that they hang themselves through their own words). however, imagine a different scenario. if there was a real threat of the bnp actually achieving power (unlikely we hope) would people still think they should have a platform? would people be happy to see the bnp in power because it is the outcome of democracy or would they then consider taking action to stop them?

But what are the conditions for them achieving power? Voters making a decision to vote for them? What action would we take to stop them? Can we call ourselves a democracy if we attempt to destroy the democratic process because we do not like who would get into power?

 

[BlueBalls]

To nightowl:

Okay let's say hypothetically there was a chance of the BNP getting into power. Somehow they achieve a majority in the polls in a year or the months leading up to a general election. Who is there going to be to try to stop their leader appearing on a television show?

Not the BBC, they're funded by public money and the majority of their funding comes from the public who are - according to the polls - going to vote BNP. Nor any other political party because it would be bad for their PR - they would be seen as trying to hamper the democratic process by silencing their opponents. No you do not silence anyone you disagree with. They have the right to say what ever they want just as much as you have the right to disagree with them.

It's shows like Question Time that allow us the voters to gain some important information about a political party who we do not know very much about and hopefully if and when he appears on Question Time (I thought it was this weeks episode - seems I was wrong :dunno the rest of the country will be able to make up their minds as to how bigoted their views are to keep them a minority party where they belong. But if this does not occur, that's the democratic process and there's nothing that can be done.

 

[DreamSparrow]

Who is there going to be to try to stop their leader appearing on a television show?

Apparently the anti-fascists who just stormed the BBC. Crazy behaviour.