We live in a democracy and a key part of democracy is freedom of speech. Everyone is entitled to their own views, you might not like their views and likewise they probably won’t like yours – but we all have the freedom to choose what to believe and what to say.
Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time last night furthers that point. I detest racism and persecution in all its forms. That belief is mine and living in a democracy, I’m allowed to say it.
The BBC made a decision, a decision based on fairness and on the facts. The BNP have a dozen or so Councillors across the UK, one London Assembly Member and as of this year two MEPs. That’s a similar level to the Green Party at the moment and UKIP around 6 years ago.
The BBC announced a few weeks ago that the BNP had been invited and that Nick Griffin had agreed to appear. Some people cried and shouted about it. Labour said they would refuse to take part.
I’ve always been of the opinion that people have different views, if you don’t agree with them you should be bold enough to take them on in debate and (hopefully) rubbish them.
Peter Hain, who’s been a Government Minister since May 1997 (apart from that slight miss hap with the Electoral Commission last year), believes ignoring the BNP is the way to go – this from a man who led so many anti-fascist marches in his youth and who in 2007 ran for deputy leader of the Labour Party – one of the most powerful and influential positions in the UK, thinks that by ignoring the BNP they will simply go away.
Peter’s mates in the unions and in the anti-fascist groups blockaded TV centre in London to protest at Nick Griffin’s appearance. They say they were trying to stop and disrupt the show’s filming.
Well guess what guys, you failed. Big Style.
What you achieved however was something very special. Your protests and the BNP lead every single news program last night on every single channel. At 8pm News 24 devoted half an hour to covering you and the BNP. Of the top five videos on BBC News online the top four where about the BNP and the fifth, well it was live coverage of News 24 showing, you guessed it the BNP. The Twitter hashtag ‘#bbcqt’ was number three in the whole world last night before the program even started!
Through your protest, you cost the Met and the taxpayer in excess of £10,000. Three of your colleagues were arrested and three police officers were taken to hospital.
The protesters say by shouting and screaming you exposed the BNP for what they are – a bunch of Nazi loving skinhead thugs.
Well they are, but last night you gave the BNP credibility and airtime. Broadcast rules in the UK state that fairness must prevail. If the BBC or Sky show 5 minutes of you lot stamping your feet and waving placards they also must show the other side and that is Nick Griffin talking to a camera about what he believes. Nick Griffin at that point will be fully briefed and prepared and is more than capable of holding his own against a journalist for a few minutes.
If you had not kicked up the fuss this past week, Question Time would still have gone ahead, Nick Griffin would still have appeared, he would still have misjudged the view of the audience and he would still have made a tit of himself on national TV. The only difference is they would have had a lot less regular TV and press coverage.
Last night Nick Griffin showed himself to be out of his depth, his views were fantastically exposed by Bonnie Greer and Chris Huhne MP, he also exposed himself as a poor media performer when he’s left on his own and not surrounded by his cronies. His beliefs and ideologies were washed away.
And at the same time the Unions and Anti Fascists made complete fools of themselves too.
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I actually thought Huhne was the worst of the lot. The fact he was trying to use the BNP as a political tool for the Lib Dems smacked of opportunism. I have seen him much much better than that
I thought Huhne was the best politican on the panel. I knew nothing about Bonnie Greer until last night, but I think she was also fantastic. Chris spoke with authority and confidence and was able to rubish Griffin’s views, no-one watching could question Chris’ passion and his hatred of the BNP and everything it stands for.
You are hardly an independent commentator Carl. And you are wrong about your interpretation of what Chris Huhne said about the Liberal Democrats opposing the BNP. He was illustrating the best way to fight them with a concrete example of one the few plaes where it has happened effectively. What he said was:
“The evidence on the success of the BNP is very simple. It’s not primarily about immigration, it’s about people being disconnected from the political system, and we’re the only party in Burnley that has managed to halve BNP support over the last four years. We are now actually running the council and we’ve done that by actually listening to people. And the problem is frankly there aren’t enough Liberal Democrats out there doing what we’ve done in Burnley to turn back the BNP because we’re the only party that’s actually done it.”
Indeed Peter. I congratulate Huhne on the impact he and the Lib Dems have had. What I was concerned about was that he then decided to throw away what was a worthwhile comment with a cheap party political line trying to use the BNP as a quick hit for the Lib Dems. It soured what he was stating.
Why am I not an independent commentator Peter? Am I not entitled to a view? Or is it if you criticise the Lib Dems you can not be independent. I like a lot of Lib Dem politicians. I have a lot of respect for Huhne, however last night I thought he was the worst performer. I am sorry if that view doesn’t fit in with yours.
Incidentally Paul I do not question at all Huhne’s passion and hatred of the BNP I simply do not think he articulated that very well. Possibly his passion and hatred meant that a more reasoned approach was missed.
I say you are not independent because every comment you have posted to this site has been partisan and anti-Liberal Democrat. And you have not disappointed again. Huhne actually made a very valid point about the best way to fight the BNP. You are of course entitled to express your view but do not expect me to take you seriously.
I’m very impressed with this article. Living out of the way in India at the moment, I don’t get much time to catch up with British politics aside than through the BBC Website. The events of this past week and the actions of Peter Hain really upset me, as I believe that a distinction needs to be made between freedom of speech, and supporting the fascist views. I think that by having such a mob attacking the BBC, rather than the views of the BNP. We need to protect the rights of anyone to air their views, and then, as you say, debate them and show then to be wrong.