Reader views (42)

 Add your view

Bottom line is that he put up a poor show.

Whether he was ganged up against or otherwise couldn't hide the way that he was tossing ideas around as if he was previously a idiot who was now getting better, little by little, but regresssed every now and again.

As others have said if he is their top man then it doesn't say much for the followers.

- Reginald, London

It's all very well slating Griffin but what if the BNP get someone leading them who IS actually a good politician, a good speaker, no matter what their views are? Surely they will gain support by simply stating that the current political parties are full of liars and expenses cheats whereas they are untried and untainted as yet with those accusations?

Thatcher and Blair were very persuasive speakers, mind you, so was Hitler. The current state of politics sees politicians following the party line so they can remain in their jobs instead of backing their constituancies who voted them in and ripping off the electorate with expenses, amongst many other defects.

I think supporters of the BNP do so because that party has some defined policies, no matter how heinous we think they are, whereas the main political parties, like Cameron's Conservatives, think they can get into power with vague policies but mostly personality. Surely we saw all that before with Blair? Now the politicians in power have been exposed as cheats and liars, policies not personalities may well begin to win the day.

The time is ripe for a decent political party to emerge with defined policies, just not the BNP. However, like it or not immigration is an issue for the working class and it wont be tackled by the major parties through fears of accusations of racism. Lets face it, we shouldn't vote for any of these parties and our political system is massively flawed.

- Paul R, London

Why are there so many namby pamby liberals paying out on the BBC. They justified why Griffin was on there, they loaded the audience with enough people to represent ethnic minorities and then gave the man no chance to argue or to a point across - IF he had one.
What would have happened if 2 or 3 people had said, "You're immigration ideas are too wild, however you do have a policy"
Would they have been shouted down, tarred and feathered for being evil nasty rascists. They wouldn't have been agreeing with the BNP just pointing out that they have made a policy to halt, ease, change, immigration. (I know it's harsher than that!)
If we put the BNP on QT then give them the same space we do everyone else or don't have them on!! Dead simple.
For those who don't agree, I imagine an evening putting beads on to your next bracelet or branding everyone who disagrees with you as Nazis, is awaiting because TV will represent you idiots and the buffoons who make up reality TV( and are labelled a cross section of society!!) and only show programs that don't upset anyone in your narrow opinion!!

- Andy, Harrow, UK

Most of the member comments on the BNP site are supportive of Nick Griffin. Whilst there may be a few critics of his performance on Question Time, the numbers appear small. If you were to check this out for yourselves (instead of believing what everyone else tells you), you might obtain a more accurate picture of how things are.

This would explain why the alleged meeting is so secretive and that those taking part are afraid of being expelled from the Party. If they were so confident of success, why worry?

What seems more worrying is the way people are so easily distracted from the faults displayed by the mainstream political parties, which are perhaps more serious?

Has everyone forgotten the MP's fiddling their expenses, the banks paying their staff big bonuses again (even though their recent profits were made possible with taxpayers money), the lack of any alternative immigration policy from Labour or the Conservatives, the deal made with Libya on behalf of the oil companies (resulting in the early release of the Lockerbie bomber, the troops that have been killed in illegal wars against Iraq and Afghanistan (again for oil)?

The BNP may not be perfect, but are the rest really any better?

- Ian Brockwell, Birmingham

As an immigrant in the UK, I watched Nick in disbelief, how can this guy lead a party? Democracy with pluralism is the only solution, otherwise there isn't any difference between Taliban and anyone else...

- Jay, Harrow, UK

If the BNP really wanted influence they'd "clean up" the worst excesses of their party, remove anyone with a dark and embarrassing past and hike into Daily Mail territory. But as far as I can tell Nick Griffin is likely to get removed for being too moderate! Apparently they want their party to be a howling, scowling, two-fingered salute to the world.

- Pete Lewis, London

Actually I have looked at the poll on on Stormfront, and only 35 people have called for Griffin to stand down, that is 25% of those who voted, 105 want him to stay leader. That gives him a 75% approval rating. A lot of leaders would kill for that!

- Sarah Davies, London

Can someone decode all this for us please. "Reform Group of the BNP" and "New governing structure". And who's Chris Jackson? Leaving their dark past behind them by any chance?

- Anna D, Greater London

Just part of the normalisation of the party. Now there is a chance of power and perks there will be people looking to make a play for them.

- James J, London

Err... what would have happened if the BNP leader had come across as articulate and intelligent? What would happen if the BNP appoint an astute and confident politician as their leader? This concept would be a bit worrying wouldn't it?

- Jethro Penzance, Bodmin

DAN RAJH - I think you may be close to the truth - I have heard from a senior reliable source that he is indeed an MI5 plant -he's working from within!!

- Paul A, North

From what I can gather, nearly everyone on here who has commented is more than happy with the current state of affairs in the UK? Are you not tired of the same placebo policies but with a different face to attribute them to? There is no point trying to distinguish the difference between Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems, they are all the same monkeys but just under a different heading. I do not condone the way the BNP goes about its business but I realise their legitimacy and right to be represented. Question time was a staged biased attempt to destroy any of the BNP's credibility in the hope of silencing them and retaining seats at the next election. Nick Griffin may be a racist idiot but I have actually read the BNP's policies and I have to say that I agree with 80% of them! Too many people have an opinion but have not done the homework to back up this opinion. I'm sorry but I'm sick of living in this country and that is all thanks to the idiots that many of you voted in at the last election. All this focus on Nick Griffin yet you're willing to carry on listening to Gordon Browns lies and deceipt when he has denied you a referrendum on the EU, didn't act sooner to avoid the recession and is sending more of our troops to die in Afghanistan knowing that we are in an illegal war! The hypocrisy of you all sickens me! And to think I have to share the same oxygen as you fools?!!

- Shifty, ashford, kent

I heard that he was going to mark the 200th anniversary of a famous Anglo's birthday by paraphrasing one of Samuel Johnson's most famous sayings on the programme but bottled it, i.e. "When a man is tired of London he is tired of ethnic diversity". Will he ever get another televised chance?

- Roger Gough, Gloucester, England

Would'nt there be a problem removing Nick Griffin now that he is an MEP ??

- Davey_Bouy, Chertsey Surrey

It's always been a little embarrassing that Nick Griffin went to my old college; but thinking about it, he could be very useful to Cambridge in persuading those who don't apply that it isn't so elitist after all.

- Bob, Chelmsford

The leader of the BNP whoever it is, is not really important..many people will vote for them as a protest over this Governments spiteful social engineering experiment...
We all know they won't get to run the country, but if they pick up a good few seats, they could become more influential and have some say in this country's disastrous immigration policy...

- Shelly, London

The BNP membership have sussed out Griffin. In truth he could be a plant by MI6. He could be ousted and an Extreme Right Nutter take his place. Griffin is seen as soft and BNP members only understand thuggish violence to get their message across not words.

- Dhan Raj, Basildon

@ The Owl - "Griffin came over as just defensive and a buffoon."

Today Nick Griffin MEP, tomorrow Mayor of London?

- C Nichol, London

Gosh! 16 comments and not one of them pro - BNP.

I wonder why? Maybe it's because they have no supporters?

Or again......

- Alan, Oxford UK

If the BNP get rid of Griffin he can go and work as a personal assistant for Bruce Forsyth and Anton de Burke.

- Don Raj, West london, England

Dumping Nick Griffin for someone without his previous life baggage will be an astute move.

If you read what the BNP publish as their Policies, it's difficult to believe that anyone in this country could disagree with the majority of them.
(some are pretty simplistic, but they are all written in ordinary, understandable language)

Maybe this is the real reason that the LibLabCon tricksters are so woried about them ?

- Cap, London

Sarah of Andover, I am not sure that I agree with you. Whilst it is correct that our servicemen and women and the country fought the Nazis, I do not think that in doing so they meant that the voice of a party like the BNP should be silenced. They fought for our values to survive and one of those is freedom of speech.

Moseley's Black Shirts were in the main not physically attacked in the 1930s. When they were it was predominantly by jews and left wingers.

What is abhorrent is that from within the ranks of our own people, there can rise the likes of Griffin who, despite the struggles of those lived during WWII, deny the country's very struggle for existance by espousing the "values" of those who sought to put this country under.

Griffin has had his day on TV. I was disappointed in the QT panel but on reflection it needed someone far more incisive in order to extract what I and I suspect most of the viewing public wanted to hear; are you a one-trick pony or do you have policies on anything else and, if so, what. In my opinion, Jack Straw did himself more harm than good by his performance. Never go on TV with animals, children or the BNP!

If Griffin goes beware of one thing. We know Griffin; he is high-profile. The next Leader may take a more subdued, surreptitious course but will be as dangerous if not more so than Griffin.

- Captain Black Of The Mysterons, Broxbourne

Stormfront is what is being quoted, but that has nothing to do with the BNP, that is like saying members of the fascist left organisation the UAF do not approve of David Cameron. Why are the media making stories up like this!!!

- Richard, Hastings

Stormfront is what is being quoted, but that has nothing to do with the BNP, that is like saying members of the fascist left organisation the UAF do not approve of David Cameron. Why are the media making stories up like this!!!

- Richard, Hastings

Ben S has summed up Nick Griffin in a nutshell, and hilariously too. Griffin comes across as the dumpy, ill-favoured little schoolboy bully. He toggles between putting the boot in and wanting admiring attention at any cost. He'd ditch his beliefs and party like a shot if he had a media role/job. After seeing the crude way he tried to suck up to Bonnie Greer, he'd jump at the chance of a wife-swap gig. Though, doubt there would be a single black woman in the land who'd not find the idea downright creepy.

- Sophie, Leigh on Sea

Hopefully they'll realise that no one can lead their party better than him, in the sense that leading the BNP has only 2 options. Be open about the racism, and everyone hates you, or hide it, and only some people hate you. Griffin chose number 2, and it works on a minority of people.

Hopefully they'll realise a new leader wont help, just riot like the idiots they are, get most of them detained, hopefully some of them shot by riot police, and we can all forget about the BNP.

BUt sadly a new leader could be exactly what they need. Then if he comes out and says we aren't a racist party, people might believe, after all, new face, new beliefs? I mean we can probably all see past that, but can those who are on the fence?

- Callum Overfield, Newton Aycliffe, England

Nationalism? It's an anachronism. Patriotism is a different thing, and not mutually exclusive with pluralism. You don't need to support illegal wars or deplore immigration to support your own country's troops - as US voters have eloquently demonstrated.

Whichever of the hydra's teeth is made flesh to replace Nick Griffin, let's give them enough rope to expose themselves as the muddled, single-issue losers they are...

- Karli, London, UK

If the BNP get rid of Nick Griffin, I'm sure he will change his views and standing against all the vile things the party stand for. Reason being I think Nick Griffin is a very weak man, and will do almost anything to be popular as could be seen with him denying almost all of the view he's made as leader of the BNP, just so the panel and audience would like him. I can imagine him writing books on what a dangerous and stupid party the BNP is and how he was brainwashed by his father as child to be racist, and appearing on shows like Wife Swop, were he spends a week living with a black women.

- Ben S, London

Doesn't really come as a surprise. This is a very fractious little party and many of their councillors at local level defect or resign. The web is full of rival groups from the old National Front sticking knives in to Griffin. Let's hope they keep attacking each other and leave the rest of us alone.

- Tony Mcmahon, London, UK

Nights of the long knives are an occupational hazard in fascist parties, unfortunately for Griffin. If you've built yourself a gang of thugs bent on seizing power, but those thugs are too weak and spineless to actually seize power from anyone (which is most of the time), they inevitably turn on the only people they can face up to, i.e. themselves.

The upside for Griffin is that I don't know if it's possible for a long knife to hurt a man who is clearly constituted from 100% reclaimed kebab fat.

- Sam B, Bristol, UK

Perhaps the BBC will now realise it is pointless to invite the BNP to enter into debate when their starting point is hatred.

Many died fighting fascists half a century a go - we need to remember that - these people are no different than Hitler and I'm sure the BBC wouldn't give him a public platform if he were still alive.

- Sarah Evans, Andover

No-one is getting the point of giving Nick Griffin a public platform to express his views. It is not so much for the rest of us to realise that what he stands for is wrong, nor is it for the rest of us to simply hurl insults like 'buffoon' or 'sick'. It is so that we can address a minority opinion in a civilised and public debate.
It is not difficult to come up with good arguments against what the BNP campaigns for and QT was extremely disappointing.
Why, then, is the public helping in perpetuating the undesirable image of a persceuted and martyred nationalist cause?

- William, London

Now that we've had a Question Time devoted almost entirely to Griffin's racial views, Holocaust denial, etc., how about another one where such questions are off limits from the start, and the focus is entirely on the BNP's other policies? You know, the ones that barely get mentioned?

A key reason for this is that they make no economic sense whatsoever, and seeing someone like Vince Cable (a trained economist with a real gift for presenting complex ideas in accessible form) take them apart in front of Griffin in front of an audience would be hugely revealing - and probably enormously entertaining into the bargain.

- Michael, London

What was it you said Nick?....."Thankyou auntie beeb for being so stupid in allowing me to appear".
Famous last words. I think.

- Seenitall, London

I wonder if the BBC will now put this to rest and confirm that the BNP will not be invited on to Question Time again. Does it really need this man to appear on tv for people to realise what they stand for?

- Bob Torrent, Brighton

Griffin, nor anyone else will ever make a case for racial bigotry, which is what he and his cronies advocate. Whoever leads the BNP will always be made to look just as foolish as Griffin was made to look - the simple reason for this is because they are petty-minded bigots.

The BNP exaggerates differences, and exploits imaginary grievances. They offer nothing. They are Poison.

- Neil645, Gloucestershire, England.

Just as David Cameron hopes Brown will remain leader of his party, I hope Nick Griffin will long remain leader of his. The other panel members on QT put up a poor, ramshackle showing, but much less so than Griffin who had much more at stake. Here we saw, was not a man of towering intellect, in spite of his fabled Cambridge education. He revealed himself as a cunning and devious mouse of a man, one minute blusteringly pompous, the next trembling, dry mouthed, grinning inanely, completely at a loss and out of his depth in a non partisan public platform.

Preaching to the converted of his party members, we see footage of him striking poses, rallying the faithful, he makes a cunning agent provocateur with a haranguing style that relies totally on division and hatred. There is no mileage in Griffin outside of his party. His complacency and self regard weaken him to the extent that he comes across as a fool and a buffoon. Cunning we knew of and saw he has in plenty, but on QT we saw it failed him to the extent it robbed him of intelligence. His lack of political foresight, vision or capability was there for all to see. Long may he remain leader of the BNP.

- Geoffrey, London

But if we understand what nationalism is, we won't vote the BNP. Leave Griffin in charge, and you'll get the sympathy vote. Your best bet is to profit from Griffin's 'popularity' (an obscure use of the word, for sure).

- Peace Maker, Battersea

Good news. Hopefully, someone much less adept with words will take over and adopt a different stance, hence exposing the true bigoted attitude and 'hidden agenda' of the BNP.

- Nowan King, London

You mean there are enough brain cells in the organisation to do something like this. Perhaps they have another potential leader set up. Or isn't there anyone who is prepared to front the so-called party.

- Keith Price, Luton England

The man is a complete fool!!. He was made to look exactly what he is... a first class idiot.

- Ray Gregory, fethiye Turkey

It was not the easiest of circumstances... but Griffin came over as just defensive and a buffoon. But maybe that is how he is. We must blame goverment for the BNP rise as they have noting to allay the fears of the public.

- The Owl, Wiltshire UK

Add your comment