Question Time

There has been large-scale debate over the last week or two about the British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin appearance on the BBC's flagship political panel show Question Time this evening. The BBC claim that as a legal party with elected councillors and MEPs they have the same right to appear as any other fringe party such as the Greens or UKIP and that by appearing there will be the opportunity for them to be held to account for their opinions and policies. Critics retort that the BNP may be a legal party but by inviting them to appear on the show they are receiving a seal of approval to be treated as a legitimate political movement and giving them free publicity.

While I have sympathies with both perspectives I cannot help but wonder what these who vehemently oppose the BNP's televisual appearance are so afraid of. Far from legitimising the parties views I cannot conceive that the show will be anything other than an opportunity for all Griffin's fellow panelists and large sections of the audience to loudly denounce the BNP's political outlook. It will be much different to the appearances on the show of other fringe parties where a wide range of issues will be discussed and the guests asked to give their view. Tonight's show will surely be entirely about the BNP and what awfulness they stand for.

It is impossible to imagine that the BBC could, or would allow a show to be broadcast that reflected the BNP in a positive light. As a result the fear that the appearance could garner the BNP thousands of new supporters seems to be unfounded. Leaving aside that fact that it is unlikely that anyone who holds such extreme views about race and immigration would not be aware of the BNP's existence already anyway, the strong censure that Griffin will receive is unlikely to allow people who were not previously interested in the BNP to switch off at the end of the programme with the impression that the BNP are being endorsed to them. Far from giving the party legitimacy, the show will surely deminish their legitimacy by providing a strong and clear point-by-point rebuttal of their ideology. I expect nothing much short of a hatchet job.

We live in a democracy, and while I bitterly detest the BNP and their ideology, I believe that all political parties deserve the right to make their case. The people of this country are intelligent enough that we should not need to stifle the voices of those with extreme views. I am confident that the British electorate as still capable of listening to argument and coming to rational and informed decision. Politicians and critics alike should have more faith in the public to listen, and to reject the BNP.