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Griffin's Controversy is Good Publicity

4th November 2009

On Thursday October 22^nd, BNP leader Nick Griffin appeared on Question Time. The panel that appeared alongside him was deliberately provocative, as the black writer, Bonnier Greer, and Conservative spokeswoman Baroness Warsi, of Pakistani origin, were selected. Also present was the current Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, and Liberal Democrat, Chris Huhne.

In the run up to the show the far-right party attempted a smear campaign against their fellow panelists on their website, calling Greer a ‘black history fabricator’ and Warsi a ‘product of Tory affirmative action’.

The BBC came under scrutiny for allowing the BNP leader to appear on the show. Prior to the show Welsh secretary, Peter Hain, warned of legal consequences for the BBC for allowing Nick Griffin on air. This threat, however, was rejected by the BBC on the grounds that: "It remains the BBC's obligation to scrutinise and hold to account all elected representatives and to do so with due impartiality.” Also in the run up to that edition of Question Time, Radio 1’s Newsbeat programme interviewed on-air ‘two young guys who are members of the BNP’. Called Mark and Joey, it later emerged that these two men were Mark Collett, the BNP’s publicist, and Joseph Barber, who runs the BNP’s record label. In this interview the two men stated that footballer Ashley Cole was not ‘ethnically British’ and also spoke of him ‘coming to this country’ despite the fact that he was born in
London
. The BBC now faces an enquiry over the interview.

On the day of filming, up to two thousand anti-fascist protestors, from groups such as Unite Against Fascism, gathered outside of BBC Television Centre,

White
City

to protest. Six protesters were arrested following a group breaking into Television Centre.

The episode was watched by over 8 million people - four times the number the show usually attracts. On the show,
Griffin
seemed uncomfortable and agitated, shaking at points. His attempts to laugh along with the panel made for uncomfortable viewing.

Of the questions asked to him, the ones he did not dodge only seemed to weaken his stance. His statement that his father was fighting Hitler whilst Johnson’s was in prison for refusing to fight was nothing more than an elaborated version of the timeless playground insult, ‘My dad’s bigger than your dad’. His insistence that he was misquoted on most things, leads me to expect that soon
Griffin
will be saying that he was misquoted by himself. There was also a bizarre moment where
Griffin
attacked ‘militant homosexuals’ for trying to teach children about homosexual relationships. Personally, I did not know such things existed.

The crowd on Question Time, however, was equally as bad. Aside from the six or so members of the audience who shouted encouragement for
Griffin
whenever he spoke, the rest of them spent their time giving petty insults. The lack of white, working class people in the audience also added to the negativity of the show, because it is them who
Griffin
claims to represent. If only a few of them were present, they would have shown that he does not speak for the people. Ultimately, It was not a ‘proper’ edition of Question Time.
Griffin
was not allowed to give his opinion on matters in the news, which he should have been allowed to do. He did answer a question on the Jan Moir article on recently deceased Boyzone member Stephen Gately, which showed the audience his homophobic stance. Nick Griffin ought to be allowed to appear again, if only to incriminate himself further.

The BNP has recently suffered the humiliation of being forced to change their racist constitution, so that it does not discriminate on grounds of race. I cannot help noticing, looking at their logo, which encompasses the British flag, the associations they are trying to create. I am proud to say I am British, but no more proud than I am of being able to tie my shoelaces. National pride counts for very little, even more so in the modern age. ’s diversity is one of the very things that make this nation great, and
Griffin
trying to sever that diversity, is a tragedy that must never be allowed to occur.

Dan Smith

The Review Online