Fallout over Nick Griffin's Question Time appearance continues

Oct 24 2009 by William Green, The Journal

THE appearance of far right BNP leader Nick Griffin on the BBC’s Question Time has sparked huge controversy. Political Editor William Green investigates the fallout.

BARONESS Warsi’s close quarters verdict on BNP leader Nick Griffin was scathing. “He came across very weak and untrustworthy, and a quite unusual character,” said the Tory peer.

“His hands were shaking through the programme. His smile wasn’t a smile; it was more of a nervous twitch. If I was Nick Griffin I would be really disappointed.” Baroness Warsi, Conservative spokesman on community cohesion, was among four panellists who appeared with the BNP leader on the historic edition of Question Time on Thursday.

Yesterday, as a furious Mr Griffin claimed he was subjected to a “lynch mob” on the programme, Lady Warsi also told The Journal that the BNP should be defeated with “great ideas”. Mr Griffin had failed to answer any questions and done “a lot of damage” to the BNP, she said. She admitted asking beforehand if a more senior Tory like shadow foreign secretary William Hague should appear, but that Conservative leader David Cameron was insistent she take part.

But BNP spokesman Mark Collett said his leader had performed well in the circumstances and provided a launch pad for the general election expected next May.

The party has no councillors, MPs or Euro-MPs in the North East, but does across the Pennines. Mr Griffin is one of the party’s two MEPs.

“It was almost like political blood sport. They brought him on to try and humiliate him. They didn’t bring him on to have a debate,” said Mr Collett.

He claimed the panel only wanted to talk about Mr Griffin’s past and “what he may and may not have said, rather than the problems of today”.

But Mr Griffin appeared not to give full answers when asked if he had denied the Holocaust by BBC presenter David Dimbleby. “I do not have a conviction for holocaust denial,” was all Mr Griffin said.

Mr Collett said: “For Nick to go on there and alone shows he has got real guts and real courage and shows he is a very brave man. All things like this will generate more interest in the party and the more people that come to our website, ring our enquiry line, find out what the party is really about will build us support.

“You never know we might have a shock somewhere, you might have a BNP MP.”

The BNP claimed 3,000 people had registered to join the party during and after the broadcast watched by eight million people. Mr Collett also hit back at claims of the BNP being neo-Nazis, saying it did not support the policies of Hitler and accepted the Holocaust happened.

But in comments that may raise eyebrows, Mr Collett said: “I think Hitler went a little bit too far.” He refused to comment further.

Sedgefield Labour MP Phil Wilson said Mr Griffin’s appearance had hampered the BNP.

He said: “I have always said that the BNP activists and especially the leadership are racist and it is neo-Nazi and they are apologists for Hitler, especially when they deny the Holocaust ever happened.”

Mainstream parties had to address their concerns on housing, anti-social behaviour and poverty to avoid allowing a vacuum developing that the BNP could exploit, he said.