S ooooooooooo.... if you were in the UK last night and you're a glutton for punishment, you were probably watching the BBC's Question Time. The regular panel disussion programme had a line-up that largely came down to, at least according to the papers: Nick Griffin, lead of the the far-right BNP and some other people. The results were pretty much as expected...


I don't know anyone in the UK who likes Nick Griffin. Even his wife, one of the 'high-brow' *cough* tabloids tells us, doesn't like him very much either. But he is the leader of an extremist party that remarkably shamefully managed to get a couple of their people voted in as Euro-MPs. Therefore, the BBC pointed out, he's technically as 'worthy' of inclusion on a topical discussion show as, say, the Green Party and UKIP, both of which have been represented there before. Thanks to those political votes, the BBC was put in the unenviable position of not having to have him on, but would have had to justify never having him on if they went that route. The BBC Director General made the fair point that they would gladly not have Griffin on if the government made the BNP party illegal, but until they did so, it was wrong to pass the buck to the Beeb. They opted to include him under the reasoning that if he's so loathsome, stupid and opportunistic (and I think most of us can agree that the sneering little creep is) that he and his party would be exposed to the harsh spotlight and crumble.    Well, that was the plan.

Even before the show, huge amounts of protestors gathered outside the studios to show their hatred of the BNP. However some 'stormed' the BBC reception area (and let's be clear, that storming isn't the word I'd use, it indicates a somewhat misleading visual that is akin to saying '...the BBC switchboard was jammed with complaints!' which - for the record - only takes four calls coming in simultaneously. The same number  now apparently applies to protestors.). Some protestors demonstrated a lack of  understanding of the word  'irony' (equivalent to a whole Alannis Morresette concert) by trying to stop the recording of a show that puts all its panelists on an level playing field because they thought Griffin was a man who, shamefully, doesn't  put everyone else  on a level playing field and therefore didn't deserve to be included on a level playing field himself.  ( I swear, it's like raaaain on your wedding day, isn't it?)   Others, more understandably and rationally, simply noted any publicity for the BNP was regrettable. The recording went ahead as planned.

So, how was it for you? (And if you didn't see it it's on BBC iPlayer - and probably YouTube, by now)

Griffin was typically odious and shot himself in the foot several times on things he had said, things he said but denied saying, things he might have said previously but possibly changed his mind on and genrally squirmed through semantics and innuendo.  Jack Straw, Justice Secretary, (once a hugely miltant communist himself) was also rather embrassing to watch and lost a lot of people's respect when he refused to answer a fairly straight-forward question about whether immigration rules were working or not. Baroness Varsi seemed mostly rational and considerate in her responses (though one suspects any evaluation would have to be scored on whether she actually follows through on any promises hereafter). American Bonnie Greer was pithy, witty and nailed Griffin several times with intelligent sarcasm and rational facts. Liberal representative Huhne was okay but ultimately inconsequential  - he'll never be in power, either.

My take on it:  Everyone but an embarassingly unprepared and excrutiatingly vascilating Jack Straw seemed to understand that the BNP's rise is largely attributable to governmental/european manhandling of the Immigration issue - a current fairweather, loose-knit set of polices that might have been well-intentioned but simply don't work.  I'm totally fine with stricter border controls when people enter the UK and greater enforcement/checks on when and how people leave (to the extent that it limits potential abuse). If you can lose 40,000 people in the system, the system isn't working, end of story. That seems common-sense as long as it's not implemented on a race/colour/creed directive and applied fairly and pragmatically.   Griffin made another basic comment that sudden and fast cultural changes scare people and maybe that IS a fair observation (If I'm being honest when I walked into our local supermarket a while back and literally everyone within earshot was speaking a foreign language, I did feel a little wrong-footed for a moment, but maybe that's MY problem. However I don't think that makes me 'racist'). I don't mind his observation of noting how things change around us and how that can be disconcerting, I do despise his methods and rationale for dealing with that.

Unfortunately the general Question Time format seemed to disintegrate into a 'let's trash the BNP' and much as though they deserve it, it did make the programme seem like a missed opportunity to expose the party's wider failings.

The only other things to add are that the final question was on Jan Moir's shameful Stephen Gately column and even the homophobic Griffin felt Moir's words had been ill-timed and inadvisable. When you're prejudices are taken to task by the BNP, you know you've reached rock-bottom! (It's like gooood advice, that you just can't take!)  And finally... that the Daily Mail's front-page (and indeed most of the UK papers) screamed that the BBC had given the BNP a platform and massive publicity that the heinous party didn't deserve... and they screamed that in the biggest blackest headline fonts they could fill their front-pages with.  It's like a freeee ride, when you've already paid. Non?  

And who would have thought.

It figures.