An Early Christmas Gift for the BNP?

On Thursday, BBC's Question Time went ahead with the controversial decision to appoint the leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin, as one of their guests. A decision which was sure to divide national opinion, a record eight million viewers watched the panel and the audience mercilessly attack Griffin and his policies with hostile questions and answers.

However, as Question Time is traditionally known for their discussions on a variety of subjects and debates, the show was a platform for the audience to jeer and shout verbal abuse at the BNP supremo, who handled the constant hostility and questions about his actions with an evasive nature. For about 85% of the programme's broadcast, the focus (inevitably) was on attacking Griffin and his party, a factor which he doubtless had expected and in some respects, probably hoped for.

Controversial and highly ignorant his beliefs may be, Griffin and the BNP are still a political party who should be given the airtime to express and state his policies just as much as the likes of the Labour and Conservative parties. Question Time has made a name for offering their guests the chance to express their views on television and as a medium for objective debates on a variety of topics. Thursday's edition was essentially a vitriolic hotbed for constant antagonism (albeit understandably) at the man who controversially stated that "if Winston Churchill was still alive, he would've been a member of the BNP", and because of this, Griffin has the chance to play the victim and attack the BBC, saying that he faced "a lynch mob" at the Beeb's headquarters and will lodge a complaint against the network about his treatment.

The aftermath of Griffin's appearance has sparked a rise in support for his far-right party, with a recent YouGov poll in the Daily Telegraph showing that 22% of the people questioned would consider voting for the BNP, and the party's claims that 3,000 people registered to join during and after the broadcast, supporting critics' fears that the BBC have given the BNP the massive publicity it wants.

I had supported the Beeb's decision to give Nick Griffin the chance to appear on television because I, like most of the nation, had wanted to see how he would handle himself amidst a cauldron of disdain and contempt at his beliefs and policies. However, I fear that Griffin and his supporters' cause has been greatly aided, and David Dimbleby aside, the BBC could and should have handled the whole situation better.