BNP,your views.

[HattonTheHammer]

As said at the time my vote was based not in wanting a far right neo nazi fascist organisation running my country, more in that it was the direct route to many MANY people who dont exactly believe the holocaust didnt happen etc voicing their main concerns at the moment which is mass unemployment coupled with mass immigration from eastern europe and beyond.

In hindsight having seen and heard the filth that the party actually entails i shouldnt of voted with my feet but your argument that we should all instead of voted for the the UKIP, notoimmigration etc is floored for so many reasons. The vote itself was its way of showing the utter distaste for the current government and by voting for a party that is so far right it enabled subjects close to the working mans heart to force these issues to the forefront of the debate. Sadly instead the media has managed to completely reverse this around to how to stop this organisation rather than concentrating on why so many people voted in this manner.

[JazMerkin]

As said at the time my vote was based not in wanting a far right neo nazi fascist organisation running my country, more in that it was the direct route to many MANY people who dont exactly believe the holocaust didnt happen etc voicing their main concerns at the moment which is mass unemployment coupled with mass immigration from eastern europe and beyond.

In hindsight having seen and heard the filth that the party actually entails i shouldnt of voted with my feet but your argument that we should all instead of voted for the the UKIP, notoimmigration etc is floored for so many reasons. The vote itself was its way of showing the utter distaste for the current government and by voting for a party that is so far right it enabled subjects close to the working mans heart to force these issues to the forefront of the debate. Sadly instead the media has managed to completely reverse this around to how to stop this organisation rather than concentrating on why so many people voted in this manner.

The argument is not flawed. UKIP campaigned on a basis of dramatically slowing integration & withdrawal from the European Union, which would cut the immigration from Eastern Europe. So they basically did what you wanted. All the votes for them gave exactly the same message to the Government that you seem to have wanted. I can't believe you really had no idea what they were about. Don't give me that stuff about the 'working man', there are plenty of people who were concerned about immigration who don't need to vote BNP, it's been a key political voting point for the past century in this country.

The media has done nothing wrong in focusing exactly on what the BNP is about. If they didn't the idiots who voted for them who say they aren't racist would have no clearer an idea what they stand for & might well continue to vote for them.

As for the program itself, the only people who came away with their reputations enhanced were Bonnie Greer & David Dimbleby. Jack Straw did very well when dealing with Griffin, but handled that question on immigration abysmally & rightly so because the situation has been a joke, although he was right that immigration levels have dropped quite significantly in the last 18 months. On immigration, I don't feel anyone of the main parties is in a position to talk because the Conservatives & Labour are equally responsible to the position we're now in. The Lib Dems aren't but quite frankly their take on immigration is confused because they're unsure of who to pander to. Chris Huhne showed just why he was the only man who could have lost to Nick Clegg in any kind of leadership battle, he was suitably uninspired, although like everyone he had plenty to raise his game against Griffin.

That Sayeeda Warsi woman seemed really annoying to me, I felt that she very rarely put anything of value across. The case in point would be when Griffin said things that were false about Islam, rather than actually correct him, she chose to actually dismiss his views without any argument & it took an audience member to actually address what he said. I also thought that Dimbleby didn't go anywhere with her comments about homosexuality, which considering all the shit they'd given Griffin wasn't really fair (I can't believe I just wrote that). But, it's true, they tried to vilify Griffin for saying he found 2 men kissing repulsive (duh... what straight man enjoys it) & yet Warsi actually has come out with things just as homophobic as him. Thought there was a bit of a double standard & making it the 'Nick Griffin Show' going on there.

I respected Bonnie Greer the most because she was the only one who actually dealt with Griffin in the right way. She never tried to claim some moral high ground as the others did, but rather chose to speak to him as if he was a foolish teenager & was actually polite to a man who thinks she's inferior. Also like Dimbleby, she didn't constantly feel the need to exaggerate what Griffin said.

As for Griffin, he was absolutely shit, he knew very little of what he said, although sadly he is right, by many in his party's standards he is a 'moderniser' (ie ethnic minorities are deported not killed). The way he wouldn't address the holocaust question was laughable, as was his 'non-violent' KKK mate, David Duke. What a cunt

[Howlin Mad Missy]

All Griffin had to say was he was foolish/young. That seems to be get out of most people and in some cases it's true but DD rightly questioned whether it was just a matter of him thinking the same things but saying what he thought would get him elected. A smirk isn't really an answer. I like the young Jewish kid who asked how he could deny the holocaust. Would loved to have seen him answer him directly.

[JazMerkin]

Ministers warn of poll boost for BNP after Question Time | Politics | The Guardian

According to this & an article in the Daily Mail, they got a poll boost out of last night's performance, with allegedly thousands of people applying to join. Given what was said, I certainly can't see any way this could be about the fear of immigration.

[ryanman]

Ministers warn of poll boost for BNP after Question Time | Politics | The Guardian

According to this & an article in the Daily Mail, they got a poll boost out of last night's performance, with allegedly thousands of people applying to join. Given what was said, I certainly can't see any way this could be about the fear of immigration.

That isn't good. But i wouldn't worry. Whilst they may have gained thousands of new members, the many thousands of people that were indifferent before but now hate them will go uncounted. In other words if they have had 3000 requests to join im sure there also have 10 times that amount that now hate them. Its just that new members are quantifiable whlist new haters aren't.

[Kev]

Like most I think the BNP are a shitty, hate filled, petty little party who I can't take seriously at all.

However one thing I hate more than anything is when the public and media unite to engage in irrational hyperbole, demonisation, scaremongering and flat out hysteria about certain topics.

It just annoys me and when I hear all these whiny ass people raining down judgement on what is basically a party of clowns, and creating them into some kind of genuine political menace, it makes me want to vote for them just to spite them all.

Swine Flu annoyed me, the demonisation of the BNP party, as if they have any power or sway to begin with annoys me too.

[Gandalf]

Like most I think the BNP are a shitty, hate filled, petty little party who I can't take seriously at all.

However one thing I hate more than anything is when the public and media unite to engage in irrational hyperbole, demonisation, scaremongering and flat out hysteria about certain topics.

It just annoys me and when I hear all these whiny ass people raining down judgement on what is basically a party of clowns, and creating them into some kind of genuine political menace, it makes me want to vote for them just to spite them all.

Swine Flu annoyed me, the demonisation of the BNP party, as if they have any power or sway to begin with annoys me too.

I was just watching the episode now and could imagine the programme making some people more sympathetic to Griffin. His ideas might be repulsive, but at least he tried to answer his questions. His arguments about immigration are legitimate and it is those that most people will identify with. Jack Straw was just awful in answering that question about immigration. It was cringeworthy and shows the government is totally out of touch.

I don't like the BNP and think Griffin is a slimy and dangerous little toad, but I was kind of cheering him on against all the bullying tactics being used. The media response has been well over the top. The BNP is a tiny little party and all this attention is only going to give them a larger platform. Griffin came out of that programme relatively unscathed. The tactics used and the media overkill are the wrong approach to take IMO.