Question Time for The BBC...

Photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/imran/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

So THE Question Time of the year has happened as Nick Griffin leader of the BNP appeared on the show last night and to be perfectly honest I was disappointed with the way the BBC handled it.

It was always going to be a hostile affair and Griffin would've known that he was in for a tough night but I was surprised to see how the BBC changed the show for this week. The programme was almost entirely focused on the BNP and perhaps in some respects this is probably what Griffin was hoping for.

This is where I was disappointed, I was looking for the usual Question Time debate, discussing a variety of topics and offering various political parties their chance to show what their view was, but last night was just a chance to attack the BNP. Whether you agree with the BNP or not (and I don't) the BBC show was not objective last night like it should be. The BBC should represent an impartial opportunity for political parties to answer questions from the public and in my opinion last night it became an anti BNP show. Whether they deserve it or not, whether their policies are totally racist or not, Question Time should be an objective political debate.

The show has given Griffin and the BNP the ammunition they need to attack institutions like the BBC and play the victim, especially as Griffin has already indicated that he will be complaining about the show. Also the BNP believe that the show has actually helped increase their membership with "with no fewer than 3,000 new people registering" (http://bnp.org.uk/2009/10/lynch-mob-question-time-becomes-biggest-recruitment-night-ever-for-bnp-%e2%80%93-30-increase-in-membership-interest/) which is a slightly worrying issue as Griffin endured a tough time on the show by being constantly jeered and booed by the audience.

The BNP don't deserve the attention they are receiving, the policies they represent are disgraceful but unfortunately I think the way the BBC handled the Griffin affair last night may have just helped, rather than hindered their cause.

Protests Over Question Time at Television Centre...

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I've just been watching the footage from the BBC of protesters breaking into the BBC grounds to voice their feelings about BNP leader Nick Griffin appearing on Question Time.

Griffin's appearance has been very much the media focal point this week, and rightly so, but I think when it comes to breaking barriers and storming into the grounds of the BBC then the protests have gone too far. In my previous post you can see I don't agree with the BNP and am hoping that tonight is a negative experience for the party with regards to politics but I think that it's an important, and perhaps even more importantly, correct decision to have the BNP leader on the show.

People voted for the BNP and the party won seats in the European elections and therefore he deserves the publicity and position on Question Time in the same way that the representatives from Labour or the Conservatives do for example. The people that voted for the BNP deserve the chance to see the party they voted for on the show giving his views in the same way Tory voters would expect to see Conservatives on there.

I'm not agreeing with the BNP in anyway here but I think by breaching security at the BBC today then the protesters overstepped the mark. We live in a democracy after all and although some of the BNP's policies are very questionable, whilst they are a legal political party and whilst they have voters then the BBC is right to give them the airtime.

Tonight's Question Time isn't one to miss! 10.35 p.m. BBC 1.

Here's the link to the video of the protests from today: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8321199.stm

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."