BNP Debate Rages On...

Photo originally from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishnationalism/3622546100/

The debate over The BBC's decision to invite BNP leader Nick Griffin onto this week's Question Time continued this morning with more column inches discussing the the far right party.

I've been very much a fence sitter on this issue as I haven't been able to decide as to whether or not Nick Griffin's appearance on the politics show can be justified as good or bad. But today I decided to make my decision.

I think it's important to remember that the BNP did win two seats and nearly one million votes at the European elections, so I think the main questions are; does the BBC have an obligation to offer them the chance on Question Time? Does it have an obligation to the licence payer and more importantly to those licence payers who may have voted for the BNP? I think it does have an obligation to the licence payers who may have voted for the party and although I don't agree with the BNP, I think it's important that all parties that are receiving a significant amount of votes should be entitled to the publicity.

However, for the most part I think it's a case of giving the BNP the chance to showcase to the members of the public who are unsure about them or their policies and after a few tough questions hopefully they'll see the real side to Nick Griffin and the BNP.

The BNP have put a clock on their website counting down the time until their leader appears on the BBC show and are perhaps viewing it as a positive exercise to publicise the party, but I'm hoping that this will infact be a negative exercise for the BNP and cause more people to join the campaigns against them instead.

I agree with the recent campaign "There is Nothing British about the BNP" (http://www.nothingbritish.com/news/) which "is a campaign against the politics of hate which aims to promote the British values of democracy, tolerance, fair-play and respect for one another." However, I am very intrigued as to how Griffin will use his airtime on the show and how the BNP will come across so in a way I am looking forward to his inclusion on the programme.

Although I agree that the BBC should allow Nick Griffin to appear on the show, I think it will only reinforce my negative feelings against the party and I'm hoping it will do for many other people. I think a phrase I read today is very apt; "Cockroaches only flourish in the dark: Shine a light on them and they scuttle away."