UK - Is Freedom Of Speech Only For Those Whose Views Are Popular & Accepted?

  Questionable Television: British National Party


The Guardian, Friday 23 October 2009 Article historyThe man from Auntie had wanted to make the whole thing sound routine. BBC director general Mark Thompson wrote on our pages yesterday: "It is a straightforward matter of fact that … the BNP has demonstrated a level of support that would normally lead to an occasional invitation to join the panel on Question Time". But there was nothing normal about the show last night, in which the far-right party's front man, Nick Griffin, nestled between David Dimbleby and the playwright Bonnie Greer, and insisted against all reality that meddlesome laws were stifling honest debate about what Hitler did to the Jews.


The filming started early in a studio picketed by protesters, and for most of the hour the only issue was Mr Griffin himself. Several members of the audience from ethnic minorities took the chance to ask him why he had it in for people like them. This abnormal interaction – and the no doubt extraordinary ratings – reflect the fact that, despite his modestly significant mandate, the Mr Griffin remains a decidedly abnormal Question Time guest. As leader of a self-described "racially proud" party, which only last week was forced to concede that its whites-only constitution was illegal, Mr Griffin rejects the ground rules of tolerance that all our other politicians accept. Mr Dimbleby's questioning was forceful, and faced with appalling quotes from his back catalogue, the BNP leader repeatedly resorted to the last gasp defence that his words had been twisted. But donning a suit and a commemorative poppy, he was intermittently able to project himself as the purveyor of just one extra brand on the political shelf. He talked of his father's war service, chuckled, established himself as one of the panel ("As Chris said , ") and even had the chance to comment on the coverage of Stephen Gately's death. The banality of evil indeed.


By granting him a place on Question Time, a programme more about soundbites than scrutiny, a ratings-hungry corporation failed to defend the values embodied in its own equality policies; it confused ultra-relativism with a proper commitment to free speech. Mr Thompson suggests blanket censorship was the only alternative to the invitation. A total ban from the airwaves – unlike exclusion from one programme – really would represent a serious curb on political freedom. It would also tend to self-defeat, enhancing the resonance of the Griffin line about being gagged for speaking the truth. No one is proposing a rerun of the bizarre images of Sinn Féin spokespeople silently talking while actors read their words over the top.


But most people, even most politicians, enjoy the right to speak freely without ever receiving a Question Time invite. The programme's contents, after all, are in large part a question of editorial judgment. That is why the BBC has sometimes taken corporate responsibility for what is said on the show – apologising, for instance, when "inappropriate" anti-American remarks were uttered soon after 9/11. It is a shame the same responsibility was not shown in respect of Mr Griffin.

As London's former mayor, Ken Livingstone, pointed out yesterday, ever since Enoch Powell foresaw rivers of blood, racist words have helped to provoke racists' deeds. Even before last night's programme, Mr Griffin was boasting that his turn in the spotlight had delivered a surge of interest on the BNP website. While the party remains at just 3% in the polls, and while its leaked membership lists do not suggest any great growth in its strength, by presenting himself as a respectable politician Mr Griffin might yet inch away from the margins. After last night's performance the hope remains that the more the public sees of his party, the uglier they will judge it to be. Certainly, the week has provided the first serious scrutiny on BNP policies, and they have proved to be as vicious as feared. Even so, he was last night handed a golden opportunity to pretend it was otherwise, a chance he should never have had.

Nick Griffin talks out of his arse.

Nick Griffin and his members are wolves in sheep clothing but i believe last night program was allowed to be too emotional and completely out of control. Nick was never given enough chance to air his views or to answer some of the questions put to him (Which i believe would have expose him and his antecedents better) he was done a lot of favour by the bullying panel members as well as the hostile audience.

The whole thing was a disaster. BBC set it up so Nick would be the victim, and that only got him more support because the people watching felt bad.