Let the BNP dig their own grave

By Philip Honour

It is entirely possible that the BBC knows exactly what it is doing by inviting Nick Griffin onto tomorrow’s Question Time. Surprising as it may seem to critics of his appearance, by offering Nick Griffin a platform to attempt to convince the UK population that racism is the way forward, there is a strong possibility that it will instead be a chance for the public to see Nick Griffin and his narrow minded, unrepresentative party for what they are – opportunistic bullies in suits whose hatred for ethnic minorities and lack of understanding about the issues that concern the public never fails to be brought to the surface during heated debate.

By exposing Nick Griffin to an hour of sustained questioning about his own views and those of his party, his carefully crafted soundbites about immigration and Islam – which have dominated his past media appearances – will not be enough to make him look anywhere near the credible politician and ‘everyman” that he believes himself to be.

This week, under sustained exposure to the media spotlight, he has proved himself to be reactionary and out of touch with the concerns of the Army and a climate change denier. I do not believe that any member of the general public wants to be represented by someone who is so out of touch with scientific facts and who is happy to use the British Army as a political point-scoring tool.

Griffin’s links to far-right parties across Europe – most notably to Hungarian party Jobbik, whose rise to prominence on the back of an anti-Roma propaganda campaign shocked the world – are also now widely known. No longer do anti-fascist activists have to rely on old documentary footage from the Cook Report, they can point people towards his badly researched speeches in the European Parliament, to his alliances with racists in Europe and the US and the links between the English Defence League (a group clearly modelled on the Jobbik-aligned Hungarian Guard) and high profile BNP activists. The evidence against the BNP’s claim to be a credible, moderate political party grows every day.

Tomorrow after Question Time, the case against them will be even stronger. We have to trust that Jack Straw and the other panellists are geared up and ready for the challenge of tomorrow’s debate. They will understand that this is a chance to halt the rise of the far-right in the UK.

The mask that Nick Griffin has so carefully created for himself is slipping. Tomorrow night provides the best chance to prove once and for all to voters who continue to be duped by the acceptable public face of the BNP about the true nature of the party and to reengage those voters with the political mainstream.