AFTER QUESTION TIME

NICK Griffin was left shaking like a leaf at the end of BBC’s Question Time tonight. After what some might have expected to be a big PR, publicity stunt for the BNP was almost completely the opposite. Auntie should be looking for her receipt, as Mr Griffin was probably not too happy with his Christmas present.

Griffin failed to dispel the notion that his party is racist. He even stated that he believed successive governments had committed genocide towards the ‘indigenous people of Britain’ through immigration policies. His constant flip flopping performance - trying to deny racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and Islamic comments he had previously made – was plain embarrassing to watch.

So has his appearance on Question Time helped to raise the profile of the BNP? I don’t think it has, but we’ll have to wait and see. It might have helped to raise the issue of immigration in Britain as being a topic needing more debate. The appearance of Mr Griffin on QT reminds us once again of the price we pay for democracy. There can be a very fine line between free speech and censorship.

BNP ON TV

TONIGHT, Nick Griffin the leader of the British National Party (BNP) will appear on BBC One’s Question Time. It is the first time that a member of the far right ‘political party’ has been invited and allowed onto the panel.

The decision by the BBC to invite Griffin was a very controversial one. For a start the BNP are about as close to the Nazi party as you can get in British Politics. One of their objectives is to be “committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent, the overwhelmingly white make-up of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948.” You can’t get more racist then that really.

The press and politicians have been trying to argue whether the BNP should be allowed to appear on national television. The right to free speech has been brought into consideration, alongside the want to suppress such controversial and hateful political views. It is a tough decision to make. Do we let such views get suppressed and grow underground? Do we let the views be heard and let them be rubbished and realised for what they are? Or do we risk the views being heard and supported further?

The BNP faces legal challenges about their membership policy and have been heavily criticised with using images of the army in their election campaigns. However illegal the BNP’s methods of selecting members are or however sickening their policies and campaign techniques might be. It might be more important to ask why nearly a million people voted for the BNP at the European elections and why there are now two BNP members in the European Parliament.

Surely this is the bigger and more urgent question to ask rather then whether the BNP should be allowed onto Question Time tonight?

WILL THE VIEW BE THAT GREAT AT THE SUMMIT?

TODAY, David Cameron gave his closing speech at the Conservative Party conference. Against the backdrop of blue skies he announced that it would be a steep climb but the view from the summit would be worth it. He was talking about pulling through the recession but could the phrase be used in relation to the battle for victory at the next election?

The public haven’t really warmed to the Tories yet. The polls put them ahead of Labour, but it is not due to their policies and fundamental party beliefs. It’s more to do with the fact that Cameron is not Gordon Brown. Voters want change but some still probably fear the Tories.

With Cameron’s climb to the economic summit, it will be a lot steeper for some then it will be for others. It can be difficult to believe that ‘we are all in it together’ as George Osborne (shadow chancellor) hammed on in his speech earlier this week. Very difficult when the men who might be leading the country are ex-Etonians, with rather large bank balances. Obviously they wont be feeling the squeeze quite so much as the rest of us.

That’s the end for today, and the end of the conference season. Now the very long road to the general election begins.

BOOMERANG BLAIR

AFTER a week that has been neither good nor bad for Gordon Brown, his old boss has managed to overshadow him once again.

If all goes to plan, Tony Blair the former Prime Minister, could take the new position of European Union President. The Irish public need to vote yes today to the Lisbon Treaty for this to happen. If so within a few weeks Blair could be adding a new job title to his CV.

This is certainly a kick in the teeth for Cameron and the Tories. Just when they thought they were in luck - The Sun, proclaiming earlier this week it has switched alliances to the Tories – Blair comes back to cause trouble. If Blair becomes President of the EU, the Conservatives would have to assess their stance on Europe.

It is quite funny to consider that the next government - be it Labour or most probably Conservative – will have the shadow of New Labour and Tony Blair hanging over it.