• Question Time: Alan Johnson tells BBC to ban ‘foul’ BNP leader

Reader views (43)

 Add your view

I always enjoy Question Time. Good to see the politicians wriggling on the hook. Admit, sometimes it's a bit 'staged' but it has got to go ahead this week. I want to hear what the BNP have to say.

- R. Shepley, Edinburgh Scotland, 19/10/2009 22:17
Report abuse

Peter from Harrow is spot on. Any one of the "major" partys, who put their mind to revisiting immigration and understanding the concerns around the open door policy, would pick up untold support. I am sure there are people who are wondering whether they now have rascist tendencies for their interest in preventing certain people , regardless of race/colour/creed, into the UK. Stop pretending it isn't an issue. Stop pretending places like Bradford aren't a concern with non-muslim , lets face it white, people being subject to the rascism that was once deemed only possible by white people towards black people.
The BNP aren't stupid, they are playing on the concerns people have and the Labour and Conservatives should be more than capable of dealing with their arguments but also understanding why they are getting any support!

- Andy, Harrow , England, 19/10/2009 21:48
Report abuse

Fancy Labour fielding Jack Straw,a tedious and painful bore who could dry paint single-handedly,against Nick Griffin.Haven't they got anyone more appealing and quick on his feet? Probably not,from the evidence of what we have seen in recent years.

- Glyn Harvey, Winchester,UK, 19/10/2009 21:43
Report abuse

These NF people may be offensive idiots, but lets not forget that it was a Labour Government that forced the people of Northern Ireland to accept terrorist murders from Sinn Fein/IRA into Government after their dirty little back door deals . . . . and then to cap it all we have Ministers like David Milliband voicing support for those who engage in terrorist activity . . . . me-thinks this is another case of the kettle calling the pot black . . . to pardon the pun.

- Eoin Mcgreeghan, Derry, NI, 19/10/2009 20:38
Report abuse

The fact is, this nightmare administration known as the governemnt of the UK is petrified of the BNP.. This is the government that scorns white law abiding people and and bends over backwards for illegal immigrants and black criminals .. The coming general election will send Labour into the dustbin of history,,FOR EVER!

- Paul, Guildford UK, 19/10/2009 20:11
Report abuse

The idiot Hain suggests "legal action" to enforce his anti-democracy views, Labour style. I trust the BBC treats him with the contempt he deserves.

- Michael, London, UK, 19/10/2009 19:28
Report abuse

I look forward to seeing Nick Griffin on Question Time. I hope and am sure he will be ridiculed and exposed!
But I wish the BBC could in this instance have the whole audience from the "ethinc minority". Now that would make a interesting viewing?

- Staniraj, London, 19/10/2009 18:31
Report abuse

Mr Hain and other Labour MPs ought to reflect on how intolerant they are beginning to sound and on the greatly enhanced publicity their protests are giving the BNP. If MPs had taken greater care to listen to the voice of voters on issues such as immigration (and the EU), the BNP would not have had any electoral success. Let Griffin appear and hang himself by his own statements. He may not be wholly a fool but his political reasoning is flawed and it will show on QT. Why are Labour so afraid of him?

- James Elliott, Eastbourne UK, 19/10/2009 18:08
Report abuse

Hain is behaving like a fascist trying to silence any opposition. Can he not see that his very behaviour is nothing short of dictatorial extremist behaviour? Let the idiotic BNP onto QT and then we can show them up for the bigots they are. They best way to deal with these people is NOT to ban them but to destroy their philosophies with intelligent debate.

- Margy, LOndon, 19/10/2009 17:51
Report abuse

Now, I wonder if the Welsh secretary will tell Plaid Cymru they are a nationalist organisation, and make them take in Scottish, English and Irish people.

And what on earth is a goverment minister who is not a justice or media/culture minister doing writing to the BBC, and giving not just a legal opinion but a statement of law?

No wonder Labour is on the way out. They think they are running a dictatorship.

- David Short, Tunis, Tunisia, 19/10/2009 17:50
Report abuse

Kh, don't get carried away with the idea Griffin will be a pushover. He may be many things - probably is most of them - but stupid he is not, which is why the remainder of the panel have to be up for it.

- Andreas Precoupoulos, London, England

he is an idiot and greer and the others (audience included) will show him up for the posionous oaf that he is. Remember he will not have his skinhead bully boys surrounding him. I for one am not scared of his ilk and i am sure the panel will not be. Have faith in the intelligent amoungst us Andreas, i.e the ones who can think for themselves and don't beleive media scaremongering.

- Kh, London UK, 19/10/2009 17:16
Report abuse

Peter 'The Pain' Hain doesn't like the BNP because its supporters laugh at his colour - orange!

But, seriously, let these people have their say. If their arguments don't add up, they will be exposed. If they do, more people will vote for them.

This system is called 'democracy' and is clearly alien to the bearded men who parade around the streets demanding the beheading of people who disagree with Islam.

- Charlie Jordan, London, England, 19/10/2009 16:55
Report abuse

Kh, don't get carried away with the idea Griffin will be a pushover. He may be many things - probably is most of them - but stupid he is not, which is why the remainder of the panel have to be up for it.

- Andreas Precoupoulos, London, England, 19/10/2009 16:49
Report abuse

If the main parties were any good & offering something genuine for the UK instead of re-hashing the same old same old, then the attention would not be drifting to the BNP.

The UK is still a democracy (just), so all are entitled their freedom of speech & views. These views may not agree with all, but that is the way the cookie crumbles.

I agree with Danny, if you don't want to listen the BNP on question time, then do not watch. Plenty more channels to choose from.

- Dom, london, 19/10/2009 16:32
Report abuse

well of course the little ignaramous and his oinklike followers are going to attack bonnie greer and baroness warasi!!! Its because these people are the enemy according to him - i.e black and female - and worse still very articulate- he is running scared. I for one cannot wait to see his ugly little face turn red with rage. Bring it on griffin.................

- Kh, London UK, 19/10/2009 15:14
Report abuse

I disagree with you Nolan: you pay you licence fee to OWN a television - irrespective of whether you bother to watch the BBC on it (their programmes are meant to be aired for free). The BNP's views need not enter your home any more than the rest of the rubbish on TV if you switch it off. However it would be undemocratic for you to decide that the views of one political party must not be aired because YOU don't like them. If that party should ever seize power (and, let's face it, Labour has put so much in place to make Britain a police state it already has a lot of the same measures adopted by Germany in the 30s) - they could use your precedent against you and ban YOUR views from being heard. C'mon, you're an intelligent guy: you understand the principles of democracy.

- Roz, France, 19/10/2009 15:07
Report abuse

Most of the postings on this thread seem to support the BBC, rather than Unctuous Hain or Feeble Johnson.

Isn't the reality that, save for the fallout of the few days following the next edition of Question Time, this will all be forgotten very shortly and the BNP returned to the abyss from which it came?

The General Election will arrive sooner rather than later [not soon enough for some] and the BNP will once again be cosigned to the rubbish tip of electoral failures and lost deposits.

One can only hope that in a 1 hour show their representative does not do any or any lasting damage to race relations. To that extent, the audience will be the key and best possible response to Griffin, not the panel because within certain boundaries, we all know what they are going to say before they do.

- Andreas Precoupoulos, London, England, 19/10/2009 14:57
Report abuse

My objection is that a non-entity like Bonnie Greer is the best that the BBC can put on this programme. Look her up on Wikepedia and see what a second rate non-entity she is. If this is a serious programme at least have serious panellists. One final clue for the BBC...for a programme which is effectively about Britishness don't you think you could field a panel of people who are at least British (regardless of colour) or does that just not fit the agenda.

- David King, Worthing UK, 19/10/2009 14:40
Report abuse

Nolan, you don't have to watch it. Switch over or do something else. Middle-class, never worked in commerce, undemocratic party politics are all accusation taht can be applied to the main parties. As has been said, all this furore and fascist attitude from the Left just means more votes for the BNP.

- Danny, NW5, 19/10/2009 14:14
Report abuse

The so called anti fascist league have ended freedom of speach in this country !

- Joe, Swanley Kent, 19/10/2009 14:07
Report abuse

This is not a free speech issue and never has been. Sadly Nick Griffin is entitled to stand on any street corner and spout his racist nonsense as long as he likes, providing he doesn't veer slightly off-message and break the law (like he has in the past). That doesn't mean he has the right to come into my home and say it. Free speech is not an entitlement to appear on television.

Unfortunately the kind of middle class buffoon that the BBC has decided to put on Question Time is unlikely to challenge Cambridge-educated Nick Griffin about what he could actually know about the lives of ordinary working class people from his family farm in Wales where he sits counting his £80,000 a year salary and adds up the sums on his £363,000 European Parliament expenses. As he's never done an honest day's work in his life and the answers are surely not going to come from grass-roots BNP members through the completely undemocratic decision-making process their Party has, how would he even know what is going on?

- Nolan, Londonist, 19/10/2009 13:19
Report abuse

'We now have mini wars being fought on our streets between rival Turkish drug lords. We have people trafficking from China and Eastern Europe. We have tribal and drug wars by those from Sudan, Somalia, Liberia and Congo. We have benefit fraudsters from Nigeria. And we have allowed in those who wish us all harm from Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Muslim lands.'

What about the hard working, tax paying and loyal 'British' like myself who may be 'of colour'? What are the chances the BNP would diffrentiate between people like us and the people you mention?

- Sanjay, Hounslow, UK, 19/10/2009 12:47
Report abuse

Reading on the blogosphere on this issue over the past week has made it plain to me that the efforts of those who are trying to prevent the BNP from speaking are in fact winning this fascist party more support. You fools!

If the young louts of "Anti Fascist Action" assault Griffin or prevent QT from happening, which are pretty fascist actions in of themselves, then support for the BNP will grow further.

I tihnk the BBC was wrong to invite Griffin on. You don't have to give a platform to everyone. But now that they have I agree with Sayeeda Warsi's approach, who wants to take the fascists head on and defeat them in a rational argument.

You cant defeat totalitarians with totalitarianism.

- Danny, London, 19/10/2009 12:42
Report abuse

One trick parties like the BNP, SNP, Greens, UKIP et al only prosper because the mainstream parties have let the voters down.

When MPs stop trousering thousands in illegitimate expenses, stop bankers from claiming undeserved bonuses, stop sending troops to fight unwinnable battles and stop wasting billions on public services, then maybe the populace will stop seeking solace in extremist politicians.

- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 19/10/2009 12:16
Report abuse

James, London

If her Newsnight appearances are to go by Greer just likes the sound of her own voice and Farsi made the following comments about the BNP so it should be interesting, that's if they actually get around to talking about immigration etc.

“They have some very legitimate views. People who say ‘we are concerned about crime and justice in our communities – we are concerned about immigration in our communities’”

“I think we need to have the debate (re immigration). One of the problems why the BNP has been allowed to grow is sometimes certainly the Labour Party took the view that if we ignore them they will just go away,”

- Mark, South-East London, 19/10/2009 12:11
Report abuse

Government ministers should not be dictating who can appear on a TV show, that is all QT is.
It sets a dangerous precedent. The fact is Nick Griffin's views can be heard on youtube, which has a far greater reach than BBC's QT audience share.
Will there be calls to ban him from youtube. I do not see what the big fuss is all about. 1million people have voted for the BNP in the past couple of elections, making it the fastest growing UK political party, whether we like it or not.

- Darren, london, 19/10/2009 11:33
Report abuse

I dont think any body needs a lesson in democracy from this government and the one in waiting,Wasnt it these guys who were caught with there hands in the till!wasnt it these guys that supported the lies of Blair to prosecute the illegal war against Iraq.I wonder who the real fascists are!And i wont to see and listen to what the BNP has to say on question time,and i wont to make up my OWN mind,and that is democracy.

- Kev, London-UK, 19/10/2009 11:14
Report abuse

Stop getting into a strop over it, sit Nick Griffin between Baroness Farsi and Bonnie Greer and let him hang himself.

- James, London, 19/10/2009 11:08
Report abuse

I find find Peter Hain only marginally less unctuous that the BNP. On QT he is demonstrably arrogant and patronising to everyone - a truly detestable man - like many of his fellow Labour MPs, who have forgotten how to behave if they ever knew in the first place.

It is people like Hain who have left a political vacuum on race and immigration that the BNP has filled. When none of the mainstream parties takes such a serious issue seriously, then people will turn to those who do have a positive view, even if it is deplorable.

I am not sure if black and asian people would join the BNP if they were able to but I understand that they do form a part of the membership of UKIP, which does advocate stringent controls on immigration that go beyond the maninstream parties. If that is so, it just goes to show how out of touch our MPs are. Indeed, I have often heard of late people of ethnic minorites speak out against further immigration themselves, so it cannot be a race issue as Labour would like us to believe.

It is time for a sensible debate on race and immigration and if Nick Griffin's appearance on QT achieves that, some good will have come out of it.

I actually think Hain knows that what he says breathes life into the BNP. Just like his anti-apartheid days he want to provoke unrest.

- Andreas Precoupoulos, London, England, 19/10/2009 11:04
Report abuse

The problem is this:

Labour has abandonned its own white working class voters, most of whom now vote BNP.

They are not fascist, they are National Socialists or 'Nazi'.

Most probably wont see themselves like that, but the blame lays squarely at the door of the Labour Party for ignoring its own and frankly ignoring to deal with the massive problem of illegal immigration.

Only Labour has itself to blame for living in fantasyland.

The problem is innocent people will suffer as usual. Well done Tony & Gordon!

- John, london, 19/10/2009 10:51
Report abuse

Just get on with Thursday's programme and let people make up their own minds about it. This is still (just about) a free country.

- Thomas, London, 19/10/2009 10:47
Report abuse

One of the problems here is that this Government has done more against muslims as a race and free speech than the BNP could ever dream about and they know it.

The labour representative would have to defend the indefensible and that's why they are running scared. The BNP, especially now they have stated they are considering inclusive memberships, only have to argue why we need to reduce the population of the UK by the repatriation of illegals, which is a bit of a vote winner even in predominantly ethnic areas.

If Hain had any power of conviction then he would allow the debtate to go ahead, supression is playing into the BNP's hands.

Personally, I hate all parties big and small as all they want is power for their own ends not ours.

- Hansel, London, 19/10/2009 10:07
Report abuse

Peter Hain the man who knows everything about democracy, the man who told us the new European treaty, I mean constitution, was nothing more than a tidying up excercise.

Mr Bliar and Mr Frown created this monster by telling the public lies after lies, and they told those lies via Mr Pain.

- Steve M, London, 19/10/2009 10:01
Report abuse

Of course M.P's never act unlwafully.

- Bernard Parke, GUILDFORD, 19/10/2009 09:56
Report abuse

Is this the same Peter Hain that got his dear old 82 year old Mum on the payroll so that the taxpayer could top up her pension?

- Chris, Brighton, England., 19/10/2009 09:55
Report abuse

I am more than slightly irked by this. In fact it makes me livid. Not because I support the BNP but because I would like to know where the 'freedom of speech police' are when the radical muslims are preaching all over town??? And I agree with Peter from Harrow, are you really surprised people are voting BNP after all the immigration failings of this government?

- Jc, London, 19/10/2009 09:53
Report abuse

I carry no flag for the BNP, in fact quite the reverse but I am concerned the pendulum has swung too far the other way.

I think it is quite wrong that all debate including the BNP is stifled as in a democracy all points of view should be heard, otherwise it could be the thin edge of the wedge towards a totalitarian regime where the State dictates and opposition is severly restricted.

We should be allowed to hear the views of the BNP and I am sure that, in debate, their true colours (no pun intended) will be revealed.

I understand the BNP is regarded as unlawful as their membership is only open to whites. Can somebody then please explain to me the existence of the Black & Asian Police Associations & the Black & Asian Business Associations if they are not intrisically racist as well?

- Mark Myword, London, 19/10/2009 09:30
Report abuse

Why do Labour insist on giving the BNP publicity?

- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants, 19/10/2009 09:21
Report abuse

That's Labour all over - always wanting to suppress free speech. Hain tries to claim the moral high ground but actually he's at the bottom. And why hasn't the BBC given much more time already to viewpoints other than the leftish ones they clearly favour?

- Andrea T, Camberwell, 19/10/2009 08:57
Report abuse

The BNP and their policies have been around for years. Everyone knows what they stand for. And stand against.

Suddenly the Govt is running scared of them, trying to use all means possible to suppress them and prevent them from having their say. This is the action of a desperate and undemocratic Govt who have failed this nation miserably.

Peter Hain should be asking: "Why is there all this interest in the BNP?" Well Mr Hain its because you left the immigration door so wide open that our population has swelled by over 6m people since 1997. We have allowed in the Good, the bad, those whose skills we need and those we don't, all without any thought at all. We can't even deport those who prevent a clear danger to this country because it might infringe their human rights.

We now have mini wars being fought on our streets between rival Turkish drug lords. We have people trafficking from China and Eastern Europe. We have tribal and drug wars by those from Sudan, Somalia, Liberia and Congo. We have benefit fraudsters from Nigeria. And we have allowed in those who wish us all harm from Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Muslim lands.

Is it at all surprising that some people are so completely fed up with uncontrolled immigration that they turn to the BNP?

- Peter, Harrow, UK, 19/10/2009 08:49
Report abuse

Lets face it people, THERE IS NO FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR DEMOCRACY IN THE SOCIALIST PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF GREAT BRITAIN.

I for one (as a jew) do not support the B.N.P's policies.

I abhorr the labour governments complete destruction of free speech in this country over the past 11 years.
New Liebour have destroyed social cohesion,civic pride,civil liberties and the right of the man in the street to have an opinion different from the party line.

WHAT ARE LABOUR SCARED OF.

If the voters put Nick griffin in power it will be labours fault for making the B.N.P the underdog.

And we know how britons love an underdog(just look at all the reality trash telly we are subjected to).

I believe we already live in a fascist state under new labour.

BUT THEN AGAIN ,THATS MY OPINION,WHATS YOURS.

How many of our troops have died defending the right to freedom of speech.

MR (ON HIS HIGH HORSE) PASTRY

- Mr Pastry, london, 19/10/2009 08:30
Report abuse

The BNP are no different to a radical muslim group.The only difference is the former are treated worse.

- Steve, London, 19/10/2009 08:04
Report abuse

You couldn't buy publicity like this, could you?! If their views are abhorrent, they will be seen as such - especially if placed amid well-reasoned debate. Why doesn't the Government have the guts to make the party illegal if they think their views shouldn't be heard . . . ?

- Roz, France, 19/10/2009 07:22
Report abuse

Add your comment