British National Party leader Nick Griffin will be allowed to appear on Question Time, the BBC Trust has said.

The BBC's governing body had convened a meeting to consider complaints from Welsh Secretary Peter Hain and others about Mr Griffin's appearance.

The trust said it was "a question of editorial judgment" whether it was appropriate for the BNP to appear.

But Mr Hain insisted the BBC had "made one of the biggest mistakes in its proud history".

In an article for Thursday's Guardian newspaper, BBC director general Mark Thompson has said the case against inviting the BNP to appear on Question Time is "a case for censorship".

Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, accused General Sir Richard Dannatt and General Sir Mike Jackson, two former chiefs of the general staff, of complicity in “illegal” wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the MPs’ expenses scandal.

Mr Griffin’s attack came after the generals added their names to a new campaign against the BNP's attempts to “steal the valour” of the Armed Forces by using wartime images and slogans.

Mr Griffin said: “Sir Richard said nothing about the fact that low-paid British soldiers have to buy their own kit because the Government has deliberately underfunded the army, despite sending our soldiers to foreign conflicts which have nothing to do with us.”

Or if he $%&@s up the BNP will be revealed as the ridiculous racialist organization that it is.

Ridiculous and racialist dont' belong in the same sentence. Regardless, he's a pro - he'll do just fine.

Go Nick! Go BNP!

Racialism is a sign of immaturity. I was a racialist when I was like 8 years old. At some point most people grow up and learn that the world is more complex than 18th century pseudoscience and "us vs them" mentalities.

Racialism is a sign of immaturity. I was a racialist when I was like 8 years old. At some point most people grow up and learn that the world is more complex than 18th century pseudoscience and "us vs them" mentalities.

What is a racialist? Is that some mangling of racist?

What is a racialist? Is that some mangling of racist?

What is a racialist? Is that some mangling of racist?

Complexity belongs to my private life. Simplicity belongs to the broad governence of the people. My philosophy is, the broader the scope - the more general the logic. In other words, the more people we encompass in the topic of choice, the more stereotypical and categorizing we must be.

That's just my opinion though - the least you can do is let the British people make up their own.

Really?

So you're saying that all things on a macro level have simple solutions.

Of course not. We're speaking once more of exceptions. Governence of entire countries, however, cannot be based upon exceptions - it must be based upon definitions and I'd dare say even stereotypes.

The irony of asking me if I believe governing by generalization has its exceptions in success is quite delicious though, I must say.

It's a word for racially motivated, or based upon race. Generally racialist policies are racist policies. Huntingtons analysis is, for instance, racialist, because it supposes that, for instance, because most of Latin America has been at some time dictatorships, Latinos don't like democracy. The BNP is similar, in that it supposes that people who have spent their whole lives in Britain, who have been taught in British schools and only speak English, aren't British because of their ethnicity.

What the hell is going on with this impersonation thing? Did I miss a memo? Hell, even New Inca Empire changed his avatar...

A strange and wondrous event known to a chosen few as "Halloween".

We've already started?! I suppose it's just about a week away, isn't it?!

It's a person who views things of a larger context in a racial mindset without the necessary negative connotation that comes with the term "racist".

What the hell is going on with this impersonation thing? Did I miss a memo? Hell, even New Inca Empire changed his avatar...

The BBC is public owned still, right? If so then they should have interviews with any parties that poll at all. Better than just having the same bland crap from the usual parties.

I hate these dress-up parties.

Regardless, he's a pro - he'll do just fine.

Go Nick! Go BNP!

In another BNP discussion a while ago, someone showed a website showing how inept the BNP are.

(Info dated from 8th April, 2008)

Burnley:
The BNP’s position deteriorated even further when another of its councillors, Luke Smith, smashed a bottle into the face of a fellow BNP supporter. In the resulting by-election the BNP vote halved and the party slipped down into third place.

Blackburn:
The BNP did have one councillor in Blackburn, Robin Evans, but last September he walked out of the party. He then wrote a letter to his former BNP colleagues denouncing Blackburn BNP as a party of drug dealers and football hooligans … Last year Searchlight reported that Evans could not follow council business. “This is all mumbo jumbo,” he told fellow councillors. “I don’t understand a word of it.” The mumbo-jumbo he was referring to was the council budget!

Sandwell:
Last summer Sandwell’s two BNP councillors thought they would outfox their political rivals by proposing a motion to the full council calling on the government to stop sending asylum seekers to the borough.. They knew full well that the motion would fall but they would then be able to tell electors that the BNP was the only party that opposed the arrival of more asylum seekers in the area.

To their surprise the motion was passed with an amendment. The BNP happily supported the new motion quite unaware that the changes reversed everything the BNP originally wanted. So the BNP councillors voted for a motion that sympathised with the plight of asylum seekers, condemned the government for being too harsh on them, attacked the press and politicians who tried to whip up racism and called on the council to accept their responsibility to take more.

Stoke:
Steve Batkin, the BNP’s Stoke councillor, has also failed to impress. During his election campaign last year he questioned the Holocaust and claimed that Jewish people only made an issue of it to make money. His performance has not improved since then. He missed a few meetings early on but now just sits in silence. After eight months in post he had to ask council officials to explain what abstaining meant.

Earlier this year it emerged that he had not paid his council tax since becoming a councillor. He claimed this was because of the long queues of asylum seekers at the council tax office but of course this was nonsense because that office has nothing to do with asylum seekers. However, while he dodged his tax, he did find time to claim his full councillor’s allowance of £100 a week.

Some more questions about their performance here.

Given that, from an empirical standpoint, there is no such thing as race, and given that, from a sociological standpoint, the belief in race always leads to harm (case in point: Rwandan genocide), any term will have negative connotations, whether it is spelt "racist" or "racialist."



I hate these dress-up parties.



I eagerly await the pirate party interviews.

Also, does anyone have a video link of the question period? Has it even happened yet?

It is due to go on air tonight (UK time), no doubt one of us UK based people will provide a link for all to see.

Kenadian you live on the East Coast, right?

So yeah, it'd be on at 5. Sweet.

Technically, I live in Central Canada.

So you're not on Eastern time?

So I'm going to have to run out of class to watch this?

no thread about Nick Griffin is complete without this charming photograph of him:

Yeah, Griffin's a racist et cetera et cetera; it's pretty much public knowledge. The sad thing here is that this point appeals to only those who already have negative feelings towards the BNP whereas the most BNP advocates don't deny their own racialism - heck, even the party does not. Thus I tend to think posts like this do not forward the constructivity of this discussion; instead, it just makes sure we get even more BNP morons (i.e. Alarik Martens) with their bizarre view of the world ranting about how cool it actually is to hate the blacks.

Only in Britain!

cata, i dont think the BBC site posted here works for any viewer outside UK. We can only get radio and no TV.

Yeah, Griffin's a racist et cetera et cetera; it's pretty much public knowledge. The sad thing here is that this point appeals to only those who already have negative feelings towards the BNP whereas the most BNP advocates don't deny their own racialism - heck, even the party does not. Thus I tend to think posts like this do not forward the constructivity of this discussion; instead, it just makes sure we get even more BNP morons (i.e. Alarik Martens) with their bizarre view of the world ranting about how cool it actually is to hate the blacks.

Only in Britain!

One of the most frequent BNP arguments is actually that they aren't a racist party, they're just anti-immigration and "britain first". Pointing out that their leaders are holocaust denying white supremacists is always a good use of time. it won't convince the BNP members, but it might stop people joining.

I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that 6 million Jews were gassed and cremated or turned into lampshades. Orthodox opinion also once held that the earth is flat… I have reached the conclusion that the ‘extermination’ tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie, and latter-day witch-hysteria.

What if Mr Griffin get's on TV and jumps up, points at the camera and says "zomg lol! we fooled you! hah!"

BBC iplayer is only availbale to people in Britain.

What if Mr Griffin get's on TV and jumps up, points at the camera and says "zomg lol! we fooled you! hah!"