Tonight:
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"It's free-speech controversy week," quipped one civil libertarian to me. He wasn't wrong: last week Right-wing Dutch MP Gert Wilders pitched up in the UK, following the Appeal Court's overturning of Jacqui Smith's ban on him, while the BNP's Nick Griffin is on Question Time on Thursday.
Nick Griffin on QT particularly has stuck in the gullet of right-on commentators and anti-racist groups. Now Peter Hain MP has written to the BBC, warning that the BNP's invite could be illegal.
But why all the anti-facist fuss and froth? Letting a democratically elected MEP on the programme - regardless of how obnoxious one might find his views - should elicit little comment.
God knows, there have been reactionaries and misfits on the QT panel before now. Critics complain the BBC is giving Griffin the oxygen of publicity. They've got a nerve.
Those constantly obsessed with silencing Griffin have given his rump of an organisation unmerited publicity and front-page headlines.
What are these "anti-fascist" censors really worried about? The Unite Against Fascism (UAF) leaflet, No Plugs for Nazi Nick, tells us, "More airtime for the BNP will lead to more racist attacks on the streets".
UAF seems to have an inflated view of Griffin's powers of persuasion and little faith in its own ability to convince.
But more than political cowardice, UAF's stance is grossly insulting to viewers. Apparently the public are so gullible and irrational that just listening to Griffin means they will morph into a racist mob.
Why not give Griffin free rein to spout forth and be held to account by a discerning public? It seems the UAF and its paternalistic fellow travellers don't think the public can discern for themselves.
This is not about the right of a collection of far-Right cranks to have their say. It is about the right of the rest of us to make up our own minds.
Maybe a secret worry is that Griffin will fare well against mainstream politicians. After all, week-in, week-out, a stream of anodyne ministers and clone MPs trot out the party line.
Might Griffin look good by comparison? If he does, this is an indictment of what passes for politics rather than a recognition of his towering intellect.
You might say that the treatment of the BNP and Wilders is justified because their views on race are so abhorrent.
But the best way to deal with prejudiced views is to confront them in the open.
This requires unfettered freedom of speech. "No platform" is a craven excuse to shy away from the argument.
Too often, mainstream parties and the media pander to the BNP's agenda rather than argue against it.
Nasty, illiberal attitudes to immigrants are not the sole preserve of the far Right; scapegoating "illegal" immigrants is almost a national pastime.
Only last week, communities secretary John Denham announced he will spend £12 million reassuring "white enclaves" that immigrants aren't taking their houses and jobs.
Kicking racism out of polite political debate, off QT, out of the country, is a coward's way out.
All anti-racists - myself included - need to win hearts and minds, challenging reactionary sentiments wherever we find them, be that from the BNP or Westminster.
Claire Fox is director of the Institute of Ideas and is convening the Battle of Ideas festival in London, 31 Oct-1 Nov. www.battleofideas.org.uk.
Reader views (8)
It is only when the electorate are so disenchanted that organizations such as BNP can take root.
The British public have for several years now been subject to such atrocious governance and indifference from their leaders and still are subject to the unrepentant majority of MP's over the scandalous expenses debacle.
If the BNP were not so outrageous in their racism it might flourish.
If the country's leaders don't do something soon there will develop a credible alternative and 1000 years of democratic evolution could be jeopardized. The current environment is a breeding ground for radical ideas.
A simple message to the political leaders... Wake Up! Listen to the People! ..........while you can..
- W.Palmer, Vancouver, Canada
...but Dan, politicians talk about things like 'unacceptable views...racism' etc, but no politician has ever said "we can't have them on because they'll make our own party hacks look like rubbish". If they are any good, they can at least show the BNP up.
- Damian Hockney, London, UK
"Maybe a secret worry is that Griffin will fare well against mainstream politicians".
Not sure why you think this point is *secret* it is THE POINT. If we could be sure that Mr Griffin will come across as an idiot and alienate potential supporters there would be no problem, no objection, no hoo hah...
- Dan Westlake, London
This writer is absolutely right about giving the BNP a voice. The way the UAF has behaved in the last few months give me the impression that they running scarred of the BNP rather it should be the other way around. If the UAF was serious about tackling Racist why for example was there no UAF presence when Islamic radicals shouted their rubbish with regards to wanting Shaira Law in the Netherlands. This too is racist in my opinion. The British people are an intelligent lot and will not allow a party like this to grow, because ultimately Great Britain will surfer diplomatically when dealing with other nations. BNP is a very good deterrent.
- Jagmohan Singh, Hornchurch, Greater London, UK
It's wrong to group Gert Wilders with the BNP. His issue is with Islam which is not a race.
- Ces, london
Claire Fox makes a telling point when she says "Maybe a secret worry is that Griffin will fare well against mainstream politicians". Calls for bans are indeed based upon the inadequacy of most politicians who indeed trot out the same cliches and cannot face serious challenge. It shows just how sad it has all become when an absurd party like the BNP is regarded as a serious challenge. In the land of the blind...what is so appalling is that the political class may be right. Indeed, whenever Nigel Farage of the non-racist UK Independence Party appears, he makes all the other politicians look feeble and outmoded and clearly touches a nerve.
- Damian Hockney, London, UK
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.
- Nolan, Londonist
The ruling class, pre the unexpurgated version of Lady Chatterley, thought it was unwise to allow their wives and servants to read or hear anything about sex.
The sponsors of Unite Against Fascism think it is unwise to allow the masses to read or hear anything about the BNP. How very patronising. How dare they presume to dictate what anyone else can read, hear or see.
- Maggie Lavan, Hammersmith, UK
