23.27 - Dimbleby doesn't want the show to be all about the BNP, so invites a question about Jan Moir's homophobic article about Stephen Gately. Greer points out that freedom of speech trumps whatever we feel about the article/paper/views espoused therein.
23.30 - Turns out Warsi's no friend of the gays. Bigotry off all different shades. Stunningly, Griffin isn't either. Everyone pays lip service to free speech, though. Griffin says that men kissing in public is "really creepy". He also talks about "militant homosexuals". I'm blown away by the bullshit here. Nothing about Griffin should be a surprise , but that was. Gay audience member tells Griffin that the feeling of repulsion he has about homosexuals is mutual. Zing!
23.35 - Next question is about whether Griffin's appearance is "an early Christmas present for the BNP". The panelists think it wasn't, because they've cleaned his clock so thoroughly. Straw says it has been "catasrophic" for the BNP. Greer makes the best point: that people don't make up their minds on the basis of TV shows.
23.37 - Dimbleby draws things to a close and plugs for the next show. Everyone's shilling for something.
It's been emotional. Night.
Thursday 22 October 2009
Bigotry on the Beeb cont...
23.02 - Cracking question from a British Bangladeshi muslim: why risk alienating muslims, rathen than targeting fundamentalist Christians, for example? Dimbleby moves the show along before Griffin gets a chance to answer though, sadly.
23.04 - Audience member puts someone else on the spot for once, asking whether the rise of the BNP is due to the current Government's policies on immigration. Straw disagrees, obviously. He attempts a valiant defence of Labour's record, just like you knew he would. Dimbleby tries hard to get him to answer the question. He's a pro, though, so he won't.
23.08 - Warsi interrupts Straw to say that "there are some things politicians need to be honest about and that wasn't an honest answer". She says, quite rightly, that there are underlying reasons, quite apart from immigration, that have caused the BNP's rise (have the BNP really risen, though? I'm not convinvced). Warsi's shilling for the Tories now, sadly.
23.11 - Some toryboy in the front row says something smarmy about "liking the Conservative position on this". Why do they let these people in? It's like planted questions at PMQs.
23.13 - Everone's putting the boot into Labour for losing thousands of immigrants in the Home Office's systems. Griffin hasn't spoken for quarter of an hour. They're still talking about him, though. He's the belle of the ball.
23.16 - "Skin colour is irrelevant" says Griffin, to jeers. He's talking about the meaning of "indigenous". He's accusing the others of racism, which is an intriguing tactic. Bonnie Greer, who Griffin has repeatedly attempted to cosy up to, won't even look at him. She's literally turning her back to him.
23.21 - Griffin tries to claim that 84% of the British people support the BNP's policies on immigration. That is some seriously creative statistical interpretation.
23.22 - Straw mentions for the 2nd time that he "comes from immigrant stock". An Asian man asks Griffin where he wants him to go. Griffin very generously says that he's "welcome to stay". Such charity.
23.04 - Audience member puts someone else on the spot for once, asking whether the rise of the BNP is due to the current Government's policies on immigration. Straw disagrees, obviously. He attempts a valiant defence of Labour's record, just like you knew he would. Dimbleby tries hard to get him to answer the question. He's a pro, though, so he won't.
23.08 - Warsi interrupts Straw to say that "there are some things politicians need to be honest about and that wasn't an honest answer". She says, quite rightly, that there are underlying reasons, quite apart from immigration, that have caused the BNP's rise (have the BNP really risen, though? I'm not convinvced). Warsi's shilling for the Tories now, sadly.
23.11 - Some toryboy in the front row says something smarmy about "liking the Conservative position on this". Why do they let these people in? It's like planted questions at PMQs.
23.13 - Everone's putting the boot into Labour for losing thousands of immigrants in the Home Office's systems. Griffin hasn't spoken for quarter of an hour. They're still talking about him, though. He's the belle of the ball.
23.16 - "Skin colour is irrelevant" says Griffin, to jeers. He's talking about the meaning of "indigenous". He's accusing the others of racism, which is an intriguing tactic. Bonnie Greer, who Griffin has repeatedly attempted to cosy up to, won't even look at him. She's literally turning her back to him.
23.21 - Griffin tries to claim that 84% of the British people support the BNP's policies on immigration. That is some seriously creative statistical interpretation.
23.22 - Straw mentions for the 2nd time that he "comes from immigrant stock". An Asian man asks Griffin where he wants him to go. Griffin very generously says that he's "welcome to stay". Such charity.
Bigotry on the Beeb cont...
22.47 - Bonnie Greer is American. I didn't realise that. She says her background is in culture and "knows nothing about politics". She comes across pretty well, though, despite her normalcy.
22.49 - We're still on Churchill. Will this QT be entirely about the BNP? Chris Huhne brings up Griffin's past quote about Hitler "going a bit too far". He wants to know which bit. Gassing the jews? Griffin says it's another misquote. He looks like he's enjoying himself. Dimbleby tells him to stop smiling.
22.52 - Griffin gets up Greer's nose by admitting that he's shared a platform with a Ku Klux Klan speaker. It goes down very, very badly.
22.53 - The panel members have all done plenty of homework. They keep bringing up quotes from the BNP constitution and website.
22.55 - Griffin drops the ball pretty tragically, saying that he "cannot tell you why I said these things". To be fair, he's making a point about the illegality of holocaust denial. Griffin says he's "changed his mind" about that, by the way.
22.57 - "Why is Islam a wicked and vicious faith?" asks an audience member? Griffin kicks off, smartly, by pointing out Islam's record on the treatment of women.
22.59 - We are a "fundamentally British and Christian" country, says NN, founded on Western principles that are incompatible with the Koran. Probably incompatible with the Bible too, I would have thought.
22.49 - We're still on Churchill. Will this QT be entirely about the BNP? Chris Huhne brings up Griffin's past quote about Hitler "going a bit too far". He wants to know which bit. Gassing the jews? Griffin says it's another misquote. He looks like he's enjoying himself. Dimbleby tells him to stop smiling.
22.52 - Griffin gets up Greer's nose by admitting that he's shared a platform with a Ku Klux Klan speaker. It goes down very, very badly.
22.53 - The panel members have all done plenty of homework. They keep bringing up quotes from the BNP constitution and website.
22.55 - Griffin drops the ball pretty tragically, saying that he "cannot tell you why I said these things". To be fair, he's making a point about the illegality of holocaust denial. Griffin says he's "changed his mind" about that, by the way.
22.57 - "Why is Islam a wicked and vicious faith?" asks an audience member? Griffin kicks off, smartly, by pointing out Islam's record on the treatment of women.
22.59 - We are a "fundamentally British and Christian" country, says NN, founded on Western principles that are incompatible with the Koran. Probably incompatible with the Bible too, I would have thought.
Bigotry on the Beeb cont...
22.35 - The panel are introduced. Dimbleby has what can only be desribed as a "loud" tie.
22.36 - We're straight into it with a question about Churchill and the BNP. Jack Straw fields it. Easy peasy. They're all going to stick the knife into Nasty Nick, I'm quite sure. Loud cheers for Straw's point about black and foreign soldiers in both world wars.
22.37 - Griffin asked why he thinks Churchill would be a BNP member were he around today. He answers reasonably well, but is still booed by the audience. I think how that's how it's going to be.
22.42 - Black man asks a slightly angry, but fairly articulate, question. He gets wildly cheered for pointing out that the majority of people in the studio find Griffin's views disgusting.
22.44 - Griffin says that there's a lot of misunderstanding about what he actually thinks. Dimbleby asks him to be specific about where he is misunderstood/misquoted. He struggles to do so.
22.45 They all have poppies, obviously, but Warsi's is the biggest. Score for Team Diversity.
22.36 - We're straight into it with a question about Churchill and the BNP. Jack Straw fields it. Easy peasy. They're all going to stick the knife into Nasty Nick, I'm quite sure. Loud cheers for Straw's point about black and foreign soldiers in both world wars.
22.37 - Griffin asked why he thinks Churchill would be a BNP member were he around today. He answers reasonably well, but is still booed by the audience. I think how that's how it's going to be.
22.42 - Black man asks a slightly angry, but fairly articulate, question. He gets wildly cheered for pointing out that the majority of people in the studio find Griffin's views disgusting.
22.44 - Griffin says that there's a lot of misunderstanding about what he actually thinks. Dimbleby asks him to be specific about where he is misunderstood/misquoted. He struggles to do so.
22.45 They all have poppies, obviously, but Warsi's is the biggest. Score for Team Diversity.
Bigotry on the Beeb
I'm astonished how much attention Nick Griffin's appearance on tonight's Question Time has got over the last few days and weeks. Obviously, though, it's big news for the far right to be granted such an official platform, as all the main parties have up until now refused to share a stage with them.
There's been a great deal of comment for and against letting them appear, but I'm 100% behind it. Let's give these thugs a nice bit of rope to hang themselves with. That aside, though, the BNP have got 2 MEPs and 56 councillors. They should get a voice. That's democracy for you. This is British politics growing up.
Griffin, the leader of the BNP, will be joined tonight by Jack Straw, Conservative peer Baroness Warsi, Chris Huhne and black playwright Bonnie Greer. The host, as ever, is David Dimbleby. There have been huge protests outside the studio all day and it should be an inflammatory evening. Kicks off at 22.35.
There's been a great deal of comment for and against letting them appear, but I'm 100% behind it. Let's give these thugs a nice bit of rope to hang themselves with. That aside, though, the BNP have got 2 MEPs and 56 councillors. They should get a voice. That's democracy for you. This is British politics growing up.
Griffin, the leader of the BNP, will be joined tonight by Jack Straw, Conservative peer Baroness Warsi, Chris Huhne and black playwright Bonnie Greer. The host, as ever, is David Dimbleby. There have been huge protests outside the studio all day and it should be an inflammatory evening. Kicks off at 22.35.
Wednesday 21 October 2009
BNP on the BBC
Really looking forward to this. Will attempt to liveblog the show. Tomorrow night from 22.35.
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