Liberal Vision

Griffin slaughtered on BBC’s Question Time

For anyone who doubted the basic sense of allowing Nick Griffin onto this evening’s Question Time, watch the BNP leader in action.  And preserve us from the left-wing activists who were protesting outside TV Centre. They managed to give the BNP an endless stream of positive news coverage from this morning. Fortunately, at the main event itself, Griffin was roundly thrashed.

The man’s not a total idiot, but this was terrible coverage for the British National Party.

A victory for freedom of speech and a blow for the forces of authoritarianism (both left and right).

Not even the military can lay a glove on the BNP

The total failure of the mainstream establishment to tackle the BNP seriously has again been in the headlines with a bunch of military worthies bemoaning the party’s use of a spitfire on campaign posters.

General Sir “Mike” Jackson says,  ”How dare they use the image of the Army, in particular, to promote their policies. These people are beyond the pale.”

Where were Sir Mike and the rest of the top brass when the Tories used the imagery shown here as a central plank of Thatcher’s re-election campaign in 1987.? I don’t remember any of them expressing disgust and outrage at the time.

There are lots of good reasons to find the British National Party completely loathsome, using the imagery of a spitfire isn’t a very compelling one.

The “campaign” against the BNP since the Euro elections has consisted of pelting Griffin and his entourage with eggs at their first press conference, obliging the party to admit non-white members through the law courts, seeking to block the BNP leader from appearing on Question Time and now this.

The catastrophe is that Nick Griffin has been able to present himself as a fairly reasonable bloke at each and every stage.

At least the LibDems have the party’s best attack dog against him on QT on Thursday night - here’s hoping Chris Huhne eats him alive.

Peter Hain makes me leap to the defence of the BNP and the BBC

It takes a particularly ridiculous politician to say anything – anything at all – that is likely to make me remotely sympathetic to the plight of either the BBC or the British National Party. But Peter Hain has managed it. Idiotically, he has written to the Beeb insisting that Nick Griffin is dropped from this week’s Question Time panel. His grounds appear to be that the BNP is now outwith the law, as it has yet to comply with the recent court ruling obliging them to admit non-whites into the party (although they have said they will do so).

The ruling – brought about owing to the actions of my ex-boss John Wadham – strikes me as pretty ridiculous. But it’s certainly no grounds whatsoever for denying Griffin a seat round the table on QT.

If unambiguous compliance with every aspect of the law is a criteria for appearing on the BBC, this might disqualify a lot of mainstream politicians who face private or public prosecution for fradulent expense claims. Perhaps Hain himself should be kept off our airwaves in virtue of having been referred to the police over his dodgy campaign finances.

The truth is that Peter Hain represents that deeply unappetising left-wing trait of wanting to ban things he doesn’t like very much. I hope the BBC resist and Griffin gets a chance to make his case – and to have it properly cross-examined by Chris Huhne and others on Thursday night.

Chris Davies severs connections with UAF, Hancock and Carmichael yet to respond

Chris Davies MEP seems to be a regular topic of discussion on this blog as of late.  He deserves three cheers for swiftly condemning UAF’s bust-up of the BNP’s abortive press conference last week. But he also merits a fourth cheer for contacting UAF last week, demanding to be removed from their list of supporters.

So far, I haven’t had a reply from Alistair Carmichael or Mike Hancock, the two LibDem MPs claimed as supporters by Unite Against Fascism. You can email Alistair at carmichaela@parliament.uk and Mike at portsmouthldp@cix.co.uk . Please do so, and ask them to withdraw from the Socialist Worker-run UAF immediately.

David Cameron must resign from the egg-throwers now

Today, a democratically elected politician – albeit one with utterly obnoxious views – was denied his freedom of speech by a flash mob of Unite Against Fascism activists.

BNP leader Nick Griffin had called a press conference and within two minutes it was disrupted. Griffin and his supporters were pelted by eggs.

UAF has an extensive list of Parliamentary supporters. The Tory leader appears on that list. He must demand his name is removed forthwith. An explanation on how on Earth it got there in the first place would be appreciated too.

And the LibDems should ensure that the handful of Liberal MPs listed quit the UAF immediately. They should face  expulsion from the party if they refuse.  God only knows why a Cabinet minister – Peter Hain –  is listed. Perhaps New Labour is now officially comfortable with mob violence over-riding the rule of law. The new minister for Europe, Glenys Kinnock, is also down as a UAF supporter.

The so-called anti-fascists are idiots. They have made Griffin into a free speech martyr. They have certainly given the BNP millions of pounds worth of publicity that they couldn’t have dreamed of otherwise.

But their actions are not just tactically catastrophic, they are morally unacceptable in a free society. They are also criminal.

This is not – by the way – an isolated incident from some out-of-control cell of UAF. Their actions earlier today were enthusiastically endorsed by UAF high command.

Note: The UAF list may well be badly out-of-date. Paul Tyler, for example, is listed as an MP. Many of the MPs and MEPs listed may not even know their names are on this list. They may not even have consented to it. But they have to remove their names. And fast.

UPDATE: I have emailed the two LibDem MPs and one LibDem MEP asking them to remove their support from UAF.