Eddie Barnes - Griffin's brief encounter

Just back from having finally tracked down Nick Griffin who came to Scotland today to take part in the Glasgow North-east by election, taking in a hithero unknown bit of the seat known as Hamilton. For more details see tomorrow's paper.

Griffin is loving every minute of his new found fame, following his appearance on Question Time last week. The programme and - perhaps more importantly- the media reaction to it, has played perfectly into his victimisation agenda. He was heading off to north-west England to give a couple of speeches this evening, and you can almost script the speech for him ("....arrogant liberal elites.....won't let the common man have his say....out of touch with decent British values.....")

He was asked about the views of his parliamentary candidate, Charlie Baillie, who said at the weekend that he would "go to his grave" wanting the BNP to stay white-only. Griffin has said he'll change the BNP's constitution so that it no longer discriminates on grounds of race, under the threat of legal action. The concession has allowed BNP members to say they aren't racist. But would he, like Baillie, prefer it if the BNP stayed all-white? First, he wouldn't answer the question properly. Then, on being pressed to say simply whether or not he would like the BNP to remain all-white, he said he thought there should be one party which "stuck up" for the country's biggest ethnic minority, "which is my people." That sounded to me like a yes. Griffin then claimed it was us in the media who were fixated on race, not him. Which is a bit rich when you read the BNP's constitution.

ScottishToryBoy: It’s the end of the world as we know it but I feel fine

I thought I’d give my thoughts after Nick Griffins appearance on Question Time last night. I should also point out at this juncture that, as I had said, I didn’t actually watch last night’s Question Time. Admittedly I am toying with watching it tonight but probably won’t. However, it’s been difficult to avoid the topic as nearly every blog, newspaper and news broadcast carries the story.

It’s probably fair to say that both the Beeb and the BNP will be pleased following last night’s programme based on viewing figures alone as some 8million tuned in to see Griffin on QT – nearly three times the usual viewing figures for the show. I also think Nick Griffin has grounds for his complaint about his treatment on the show. Instead of focusing on current affairs, last night’s Question Time focused solely on Griffin himself and his views – it was, in fact, Griffin Time.

Yes, his views are disgusting and deserve to be debated and taken apart but Question Time is about discussing current affairs not teaming up on a single politician – something that will work in his favour as it will have garnered him some sympathy. Griffin complaining is also an inspired move as it will result in him staying on the news agenda even longer.

For me though, the most delicious irony of this whole affair was the anti-fascist groups trying to ban him from appearing on the show. Sounds a lot like censorship and suppressing freedom of speech to me…

Update:


I'm also enjoying Malc in the Burgh's post about being a fascist to oppose fascism.

David Maddox: Dealing with Britain's Nazis

You can understand why when Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP (pictured top right), came to make his acceptance speech the other seven victorious MEPs for the North West of England as one turned their backs and vacated the stage.

No doubt none of them wanted to be pictured sharing a platform with a man who represents some of the more odious elements in British politics and the act was an understandable sign of their disgust and rejection of all that he stood for.

But, think on this. For the past few weeks the news agenda has been full of how the politicians in main parties in British have being doing their best to prove how unfit they are to govern. As each day has passed by we have seen how they have been helping each other to help themselves at the trough of public munificence in the MPs expenses scandal.

At the same time there has been a concerted campaign by these so called "establishment" parties to dissuade voters from turning to the BNP.

And the BNP has throughout portrayed itself as the victim of an establishment plot, the "clean" party on the outside of the corruption but on the side of the people which the main parties want to keep out.

It is of course all spin to cover its racist core, but when the main the representatives of the main parties walked off the stage together like they did in Manchester, they simply reinforced the image which the BNP has used to successfully gain a foothold in British politics.

Like it or not Griffin and his followers are now part of the democratic process and have been elected to office by the rules that govern our democracy. For that we can thank Tony Blair and his bizarre decision against the will of many of his Labour colleagues to accept the Liberal Democrats demands of introducing proportional representation.

There was no need for Mr Blair to do this, it was born out of New Labour's arrogance in the heady days of the late 1990s that people would always love them and that PR could guarantee a centre left Lib/ Lab government for generations to come with the Conservatives and Nationalists forever kept out. The test bed, Scotland, has since proven this assumption wrong with the SNP's famous victory in 2007, although arguably PR has worked North of the border to a point.

But with the European elections the critics have been proven right. Opponents of PR always warned that it would open the door to extremists and not just "cuddly" fringe groups like the Greens or more reasonable Nationalists like the SNP and Plaid Cymru. Now we have BNP MEPs and we can only be thankful that Blair was prevented from introducing PR for Westminster.

So given this new political reality the main parties would do better, perhaps, to clean up their own act and take on the BNP through proper debate instead of taking an approach that bolsters their pretence that they are the "victims of British politics" kept on the outside by a dysfunctional elite.