How did Nick Griffin do on BBC Question Time?

would loved to have seen this

i think it is a good decision to allow these sort of folks on tv, as reprehensible as they may be, people need to see what these folks are all about

hopefully he came across as a raving lunatic

Yes I agree and yes he did. He was totally discredited and it was brilliant.
You can watch it on BBCiplayer...

cool, i forgot about the iplayer

doh, iplayer tv only available in the UK

It's on youtube, yay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iKfrY9l2kY

sweet

when howard stern was on terrestrial radio only (he's since moved exclusively to satellite) he used to get a lot of grief for talking to daniel carver of the KKK, but he did it as a goof, to show how insane this guy and his cohorts were

Totally agree with you, dj. The more exposure you give to people like that, the less credible their message becomes. And people are exposed to their lunacy and now know that thse cretins not only exist but could come to power if we aren't careful.

The way to actually get "careful" Andy is to share out the wealth more evenly so that those people in deprived areas are not so pissed off that they will vote in extremists.

If you're not up for that you're scapegoating and having a nice little socially acceptable outrage freakout on the backs of those deprived people.

I trust you are all old enough to know that infant mortality rates in deprived areas are higher than in the more salubrious regions so we are dealing with babies dying and sobbing parents.

Thanks for the YouTube link, Pentacle Queen. Really interesting.
I would love to see the whole debate, though. I've checked out the BBC online, with no success. Maybe I didn't look hard enough? Any useful suggestions, anyone?

The interesting parts have been on all the News programmes. Like, for example, that London has ceased to be a part of Britain.

That part wasn't reported in the Oz media, spendius ...
But there was quite a bit of reporting of folk protesting about Nick Griffin's appearance on the BBC. Sounds like (without have seen the whole debate) it was actually a positive thing.
I'd still love to see the debate in its entirety, if anyone has any ideas of if/how this can be done.

There's a lot of truth in what you say, Spendi. And it is on the basis of this perceived inequality that these people appeal to the masses. In the US, the KKK has been known to recruit from among poor whites by convincing them that "it's the niggers stealing your jobs" and by actually lobbying for some social welfare programs

I saw the programme.

Beforehand, I was in favour of the thing going ahead because to gag him would have allowed the BNP tp portray him as a martyr.

Now, I think they are quite cynically playing him as a victim, the Establishment against Little Nick, which will do their voting numbers no harm at all, sadly.

Odious slug.

Now, my opinion is that the BBC should not treat the BNP as a normal political party (despite their recent pronouncements on race and party membership)

That's interesting, McTag.
You believe he's received sympathy, as a result of being peceived the "underdog"?
I really wish I could have seen the whole program! Frustrating.

Yes. I believe many of the voters/ sympathisers of the BNP see themselves as "victims", the forgotten British working class. Not all are racist pure and simple.
To see their leader vilified by the middles classes on TV will increase their resentment, I feel.
I think the BNP poll figures will go up as result of this week's debate, particularly since our immigration controls are in such a mess.

I can see how you could have formed this impression, McTag. But has there been any such feedback in the Brit press or say, on talk-back radio, or is this just your own assessment at this stage?

The BBC could not avoid the invitation to Mr Griffin. He is an elected member of the European Parliament for North West England. To deny him the opportunity to appear on Question Time would have been anti-democratic. And a large mob of opponents attempted to do exactly that by demonstrating outside the front entrance of the BBC.

The North West England European constituency contains the Parliamentry seat of Mr Jack Straw: Blackburn. That is a constituency with one of the largest populations of ethnic minorities. It is about 70% white. Mr Straw, who would be a serious candidate for Prime Minister if Mr Brown fell under the proverbial bus, was put up by the Government to debate on the programme.

There are infant mortality rates of 8 to 12 in some northern regions. Manchester's is about 9. In the south there are rates of 2 to 3.

London is widely thought to be irredemiably corrupt in the area Mr Griffin represents and from which that hostile audience was drawn. The SNP in Scotland also thinks of London as a nest of vipers.

All our media is owned and run in London including the majority of what are laughably known as local newspapers.

As I said earlier, if London thinks it can have a greed fest whilst leaving large areas of the highly productive north in a deprived and run down state it had better learn how to deal with the BNP in a more useful manner than simply getting a mob to shout it down.