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Subject: RE: BS: BNP on question time
From: McGrath of Harlow - PM
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 06:03 AM

The sheer volume of protests should pull them up sharp though.

I doubt it. More people protesting goes with more attention goes with more viewers.

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Oh aye? Then take a look at this news item from AOL. I've posted it in full, partly because I don't know whether non-AOL users would be able to access it, and partly to spare people's eyes from the ugliest picture of Nick Griffin I've ever seen. I thought at first he was mooning at the camera.

The BBC's governing body was meeting to debate 11th-hour attempts to block British National Party leader Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time

The decision to invite Mr Griffin on to the panel has sparked fury among the public and politicians, with Wales Secretary Peter Hain among those who has written to the BBC Trust asking it to reconsider.
Now a panel of BBC Trustees has been set up to examine the complaints to see whether they should act.

It comes amid fears that the planned appearance could boost support for the party, as happened with France's far right party in the 1980s. A special "ad hoc" committee of Trustees will decide firstly whether it can look at the appeals, before potentially thrashing out whether they should be upheld or thrown out.
There has been condemnation and debate surrounding Mr Griffin's appearance - the first time the BNP will have been represented on the programme panel - which has sparked a protest rally to be held in London. Mr Hain wrote to the BBC Trust, asking it to look again at the decision to allow the BNP to "the top table of UK politics" on the BBC1 show.

He argued the party is currently illegal because it does not allow ethnic minorities to join. His letter to the Trust was a last resort after BBC director general Mark Thompson rejected his arguments.
Some have argued putting the BNP up to public scrutiny could have the effect of damaging the party, but others have suggested it could boost interest. Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the Front National (FN), saw support for his party double overnight after being questioned on a leading French political programme in 1984.
Dr Jim Shields, associate professor in French Studies at Warwick University, called the appearance "a real milestone" in his acceptability.

Meanwhile, ex-army chiefs General Sir Mike Jackson and General Sir Richard Dannatt accused the BNP of "hijacking" military symbols for their own advantage. Mr Griffin sparked outrage by comparing the British generals to Nazi war criminals and claiming Winston Churchill would join the BNP if he was still alive.