BNP Leader Nick Griffin On Question Time: Oddballs, Exposure And A Riot
NICK Griffin, monocular leader of the BNP, is to appear on BBC’s Question Time politics show. You can read what we think of it here and here. But what says the media? What says the media about the BBC’s decision to make its moribund TV show interesting?
The front pages:
“Why even the BNP leader’s wife thinks he is a weirdo” – Mail
“BBC chief: We were right to allow BNP on Question Time” – Guardian
“BNP: Thank you auntie for giving us such a boost” – The Times
“Riot fear over BNP talk show” – Daily Star
Nick Griffin The Man
Daily Mail, Dominic Carman: “DOMINIC CARMAN: A deeply disturbing encounter with the BNP’s Nick Griffin – and the wife who thinks he’s an oddball”
Jackie [Griffin's wife] pulls no punches when it comes to her husband. The former district nurse later revealed some extraordinary home truths about the couple’s marriage.
“My mother thinks he could do with a damned good slap,’ she confided in me, adding: ‘Nick’s parents taught him that the sun rose and set in his a***. He never had to do anything at home and was told he was always right, he can do everything and he’s wonderful.”
They first met in Suffolk in 1978: she was 15, he was 19 and friends with her sister’s boyfriend.
“Nick was an oddball, never part of the gang,” she says.
Sing along: Nick Griffin is only one oddball, the other is in the…
After graduating in 1980, Griffin worked full time for the National Front.
“I thought he would grow out of it,” says Jackie. “I was earning money, he wasn’t – what a fool I was.”
The couple married in 1985. Joe Pearce, best man at their wedding, was imprisoned twice for inciting race hatred. The Griffins lived on state benefits for more than a year.
“I worked my a*** off trying to keep us going,’ Jackie moaned. “I’ve been… working to keep us going financially and bring up four children while he’s spent his time playing at stupid politics. To Nick, it’s all a game.’
Meanwhile, In Scotland…
The Herald: “BBC ‘bent over backwards’ to accommodate BNP leader”
Mike Russell, the Scottish Culture Minister, said of the decision to invite MEP Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, on to the flagship show tonight: “BBC managers in London must explain why they are bending over backwards to accommodate this overtly racist party, which has absolutely no standing north of the Border.”
Mike Russell is a member of the Scottish National Party – not to be confused with the British National Party. SNP MPs sit in Westminster, debating and voting on things that can affect the English, Welsh and Northern Irish. Discuss.
A Few Words From Nick Griffin
The Telegraph: “Nick Griffin: Question Time uproar will give BNP new levels of ‘public recognition’”
“I thank the political class and their allies for being so stupid. The huge furore that the political class has created around it clearly gives us a whole new level of public recognition”, he said.
See Nick Griffin in all newspapers.
The Scotsman: “Murphy warning on rise of BNP inScotland
SCOTTISH Secretary Jim Murphy warned Scots not to be complacent about the rise of the British National Party, as he pointed to a tenfold increase in support for the racist party.
The Cabinet minister said he regretted that the broadcast was going ahead, and he warned that, far from the BNP being an English problem, support for the far-right party had grown so much in Scotland that only the largest football stadiums could accommodate all its voters at once…
How facsists love those football stadiums.
“Ten years ago, the number of people voting BNP in Scotland numbered just over 3,000. In June of this year, that increased tenfold to 29,000 people in Scotland who decided to put their cross in the BNP box. If this thought doesn’t concern people, then the problem is only going to get worse.”
Time For A Heated Debate About The BBC
The Guardian: “BBC is right to allow BNP on Question Time, says Mark Thompson”
The BBC’s director general, Mark Thompson, today robustly defends the corporation’s decision to invite the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, on to Question Time,
Says Mark Thompson:
* “Yaaayyy. Get a load of those viewing figures. We are relevant. In your face, Murdoch!”
* Maybe not.
Daily Mirror: “QUESTION SLIME”
Cabinet minister Peter Hain and Trevor Phillips, chairman of Britain’s race watchdog, had begged the BBC Trust to block the show. But a senior Westminster source said: “They turned the request down.”
A bitterly disappointed Mr Hain:
“I am very sad the BBC I grew up with and held in such high regard has made one of the biggest mistakes in its proud history. Nick Griffin has today confirmed that I was right. He feels that the BBC have given him an early Christmas present. This gift of credibility will last him a political lifetime. It saddens me to see that BBC executives have become apologists for the BNP, lauding the recent electoral success of the BNP as a new ‘threshold’ which the Corporation must respect. They have gone to extraordinary lengths to give the BNP a platform, and the credibility they crave.”
The Indy: “BBC ‘will lose trust for giving airtime to BNP’
Michael Rosen, the former children’s laureate, accused the broadcaster of “hiding behind” the BNP’s European election victories to justify its decision, adding that executives “were relishing” the ratings that the broadcast is expected to receive. “It is failing in the very impartiality that it claims to be trying to uphold,” he said.
Daily Mirror: “Doreen: Don’t be fooled by the racist BNP”
Having heard from Doreen Lawrence, mother to murdered Stephen Lawrence, the Mirror does a vox pop:
Crescent Radio boss Raes Mahmood Khan.. said: “In some ways it’s scary they are going to be on TV but in a way it’s good in that it uncovers just how ugly their policies are.”
On With The Show
The Guardian, Mark Lawson: “TV matters: Question Time”
From years of sitting beside Bonnie Greer on the Newsnight Review sofa, I know that she has the eyebrows and mouth to belittle Griffin both silently and vocally…
He doesn’t stand a chance.
Daily Mirror, Derek Mcgovern: “No Time for Griffin”
“But don’t worry too much about any publicity Griffin might garner. It’s not as if anyone watches the show any more – indeed I fully expect Robin Day to make mincemeat of him…
The BBC says it’s a freedom of speech issue but, if you believe in free speech, you have obviously never hired a lawyer. Paddy Power quote 7-4 for host David Dimbleby to label Griffin a racist and it’s 3-1 for any of the other panelists to throw a glass of water over him. I think they mean Griffin rather than Dimbleby, though it’s hard to say which would get the bigger cheer.
Power offer 11-10 that playwright Bonnie Greer is the first guest to walk off during the show, with Baroness Warsi at 5-4. Jack Straw at 6-1 is the man to back to leave last. Always go for the last straw.
Outside In The Cold, More News Is Being Made
BBC: “Anti-BNP groups to protest at BBC”
Well, yes. Isn’t that what they do?
Daily Star: “BNP BIGOT’S RING OF STEEL”
More than 400 police are on duty in case anti-BNP protesters storm the west London studios.
Leading to:
Police have put 300 officers on stand-by – Daily Mirror
Daily Express: “POLICE BRACED FOR CLASHES AS BBC ALLOWS BNP GO-AHEAD”
The Sun: “BBC beefs up security for BNP”
The Pre-Debate Debate:
The Sun, Jack Straw: ‘Denial of Holocaust says all’
By JACK STRAW, Justice Secretary
There is nothing funny about a man who in the past has denied that the Holocaust – the murder by the Nazis of six million Jews – took place.
So we can’t laugh at him?
I’m Not Racist But I Know Some People Who Are…
Daily Mail: “Playing into the hands of racists”
The implications of the fastest population growth in our history are truly alarming. This isn’t about race. It’s a question of sheer numbers. For these overcrowded islands cannot absorb an extra 10million inhabitants over the next 24 years – more than two-thirds of them first-generation immigrants and their children – without seriously damaging the quality of life for all who live here, whatever the colour of their skin. Housing and public services are already under huge strain from mass migration. Yet the Office for National Statistics says we must now brace ourselves for a population of 70million in just 20 years.
Well, opinion polls show 84 per cent of us, including two-thirds of the ethnic minority population, do worry about it. Rightly, ministers have scrambled to condemn the racist Nick Griffin as he prepares for tonight’s Question Time.
But has anyone done more for the BNP’s vile cause than the mainstream politicians of all parties who ignore the public?
Daily Mail, Sir Andrew Green: “SIR ANDREW GREEN: We must halt this conspiracy of silence over our immigration crisis
Eighty-four per cent are worried about our population hitting 70million in 20 years or so, including two thirds of our ethnic population. Seventy-one per cent are worried about the impact of immigration, including 45 per cent of the ethnic communities.
It was “two-thirds of the ethnic minority population” not a moment ago…
The beneficiary, of course, is the BNP, which has been left with a wide-open goal. Nick Griffin, due to appear on Question Time this evening, must be delighted. The truth is that the public are right to be concerned. The numbers of migrants are now so great as to change the whole nature of our society, yet no one has ever been consulted. Middle England is privately seething with resentment at this change and the white working class is deserting Labour in droves.
WHO’S WHO ON TONIGHT’S SHOW
DAVID DIMBLEBY – White man whose dad worked for the BBC (in charge)
BONNIE GREER – Black woman (so utterly devoid of power)
CHRIS HUHNE – White man (white men can be powerless)
SAYEEDA WARSI – Asian woman (Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Social Action – the longer the title the more meaningless the job)
JACK STRAW – Northerner (Chippy)
Posted: 22nd, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Politicians Comments (14) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Then again it might just be an advert for your tea shop which Nick Griffin has never been near
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:08 am
last nights question time was a wasted opportunity in my opinion. A audience simply jeering and condeming Nick Griffin and the usual boring predictable comments from others on the panel. Why were important issues not discussed to establish Nick Griffins policies and let him argue his point with the other parties, a failure of Dimbleby who isn’t that good as a chairman. In my opinion weather you support him or not he must be a very brave man to remain as composed as he did. Jack Straw came across as the pathetic wimp he is who could hardly form a sentance and as usual unable to honestly discuss the immigration issue, this failure does more to promote the BNP than Nick Griffins appearance. I think viewers saw a man who answered questions under a great deal of pressure and probably gained more respect for it.
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:23 am
American, Griffin and the BNP have been in bed with our White Supremacists for years. In 1999 Griffin and other BNP members started attending meetings over here at the AFBNP in Arlington, VA raising funds for the BNP.
Griffin has been attending meetings and conventions held by the top Klansman and White Supremacists here for years as an invited guest and/or speaker. You will note below he went on a speaking tour at American Colleges in 2007.
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2007/10/22/racist-british-party-leader-on-american-college-speaking-tour/
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:08 am
congrats England! it seems Karl “TurdBlossom” Rove has spiritually moved (back) to your country!!!
Divide and Conquer. That oughta keep the plebes busy eh?
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:39 am
As an American who works behind the scenes in American television, I consider the Nick Griffin booking a watershed testing moment between the British public and the BBC. Mark my words, this was the BBC testing you to see if you are softened up enough for them to continue making your television more “American” in nature. The US is well familiar with deliberate bookings of provocative guests who degrade a nation and its culture in the name of ratings. I for one would not be surprised if Nick Griffin wound up with his own Radio or Television program as a result of this. If the UK were the US he’d be getting the phone calls this evening.
Sean Hannity, Griffin’s doppelganger in more ways than one, has certainly made off well as a result of our country’s television policy of provoking and selling out the nation in the name of ratings and hidden political agendae. If the American public had only stood up to Hannity’s first broadcasts the way the British stood up to Griffin’s today, the entire tenor of this country’s politics might be different today. But we’re weak, fat, illiterate, stupid and racist, and we did not. Now America is paying the ultimate price. Our media are completely in bed now with racist and nationalist ideologue fanatics.
Stand strong, Britain. Don’t let what happened to us happen to you. I think Griffin had the right to air his views, and I do think the BBC audience was stacked and pre-selected against him (standard practice in American television). However, if you need any proof an extremist like him has no place in British society on the whole, you need only look westward to America and witness what happens when people like him are legitimized and even given their own news programs and radio pulpits. Free speech has cost our country its freedom.
Hold fast to your national sanity and stand united against people like Griffin as long as you can, Britain; and also stand united against provocative, undermining tactics from the television you all happen to pay an annual license fee for.
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:21 pm
You cetainly do have your hands full over there with him and his party, don’t you! We have the same problem with his bedfellows here and it is growing.
First time I’ve ever taken a good look at a picture of him and it gave me chills looking at the way he wore his hair. Reminded me of the pictures of someone else who had the same hair cut that I’d seen when studying history, who looked upon as inferior those of a different nationality, color or religious beliefs and spread hatred. That man’s teachings and beliefs in Superiority brought the death of over 6 million Jews!
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:36 pm
..sounds like Mrs Griffin is getting a bit pissed off with all the adverse publicity, even if her odious husband isn’t….? or maybe it’s just a “sleb”- like ruse to keep them in the media via a “will-they-won’t-they” divorce debate….? it wouldn’t be the first time, let’s face it and Griffin doesn’t seem fussy about the sort of publicity he gets.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Perhaps I have made a crass analogy by comparing this appearance on Question Time to a kind of Cup Final…maybe a fairer analogy for the BBC & BNP to describe the sate of play….would be comparing this to Match of the Day.
C&C…I had the same thought as you as to ignoring this reality T.V. by not giving it a room with a view….but I have decided to watch it….ignorance is not bliss and closing my eyes will not make it go away.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:48 am
What a load of hoo har nonsense.I don’t think i’ve ever heard so much clap trap in all my life. This country is a political joke.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:59 am
If this gets any more popular the BBC will lose the rights to it and it will be pay for view on Sky next week
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:49 am
The Triumph of the Won’t.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:48 am
If he was banned he would be seen as a martyr by many who are not even his supporters. Best thing to do is for us all to just not watch, hence cutting off the oxygen of publicity at source. The extra BNP viewers would then be negated by the usual viewers not tuning in.
That is what I shall do.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:23 am
The BBC are guaranteed at least one large group of extra viewers for Question Time…it is a given that all BNP voters & supporters will be watching tonight…this is a media moment they have been waiting for …their big moment…their own X factor….their own Cup Final…..in the spotlight and loving it…media respectability at last….media respectability at last…
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:05 am
with all the publicity this show has been given, it is going to be nothing more than a circus, with the only beneficiaries being the revolting and smug Nick Griffin and the BBC crowing over their viewing figures – after all, something’s got to make up for the failure of Strictly Come Dancing to trounce X Factor, hasn’t it….?
IMO Mark Thompson is just after making his mark, at whatever cost, when surely as his wages are being paid by the licence-payer, he should be made to listen more to the opinions of the public, the majority of whom, I believe, still think that this disgusting party should not be given the oxygen of publicity.
there is a fine line between freedom of speech and allowing people to spew out their vile hatred of others, causing anger, resentment and potential conflict.
unfortunately, I think the shallow Mr Thompson is just looking forward to his ratings…