I saw a rather succinct review of Question Time: "Griffin came across as a blithering idiot while the other three politicians acted like a bunch of kids fighting over a bag of sweets, Jack Straw seemed to drop most of his sweets on the floor when asked about immigration. Bonnie Greer was hilarious". This about sums up what happened, but here follows a more in depth analysis.
The first question to the panel: was the BNP's hijacking of the image of Churchill fair? Jack Straw points that the nazis were a party which discriminated based on race just like the BNP, that asian people fought in the war, and that other political parties have a "moral compass". I could not help but think of the bombing of Dresden, over 1,000,000 dead Iraqis, and tortured Muslim civilians when he said this.
Next, a black man from the audience asks Griffin to justify why he does not recognise any of the cultural benefits that black and asian people have brought to the country. Griffin does not respond, but goes on to accuse the Daily Mail of outrageous lies. No, not outrageous lies about asylum seekers and migrants, but outrageous lies about the BNP and himself. "Which ones?" asks Dimbleby, "..your denial of the holocaust? Or stating that you want Britain to be 99.9% white? And why are you smiling, this is serious?" [audience jeers]. Griffin states that he does not like the fact that the holocaust is abused but does not elaborate on what this means. Next Sayeeda Warsi points out that Griffin's forefathers would have celebrated Hitler as a hero, and that Mark Collett said that "Churchill was a fucking cunt who led us into pointless war with other whites." Bonnie Greer stated that Churchill would not have been accepted into the BNP as his mother was American and had Mohawk Indian ancestry which would have prohibited his entrance, and that the ideal of "indigenous people" in a country which has had centuries of immigration does not exist.
Chris Hume notes that the BNP's tactics for increasing racial tensions are about peddling fear and hatred, and finding people to blame for societal problems. He then quotes Griffin as saying that "if the BNP had control of broadcasting then the people of Britain could be convinced that every last one must go". He then quotes Griffin as saying "Hitler went a bit too far". "Which bit too far? Bombing British towns and cities? Gassing jews?" asks Chris. He then asks Griffin why he appears on a YouTube video with the leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Griffin states "he did not know it was him", and Dimbleby facetiously states "ah, you didn't recognise him [wearing that hood]" which provoked laughter among the audience. Griffin ludicrously went on to claim the Ku Klux Klan are a "non-violent group" much to the astonishment of Bonnie Greer and people shouting from the audience, and that he was attempting to "win over the youngsters who would otherwise be lead astray by the Ku Klux Klan leader". Griffin claims he is changing the views of many of the far right in his party. For once this is a candid admission that people in his party do hold extreme far right views, but for some reason he does not count himself one of those. Presumably he means he is better at disguising his racism. Jack Straw confronts Griffin about the "BNP languages and concepts discipline manual" which asks all party members to counter claims that the "BNP is a racist party", and on an Orwellian note, "not to talk about the BNP's past". Dimbleby also takes the opportunity to confront Griffin on the BNP's cryptofascist rhetoric, putting it to him that the party is putting on a friendly face as this approach is more likely to be successful, but their long term goal remains to rid the country of anyone who is not white.
Next a white man asks Griffin: "if the BNP are not racist why has it taken a legal action to change the entrance policy". A white woman asks Griffin "how the BNP defines minority races when humankind began in Africa", and a Jewish adolescent challenges Griffin over his claims that the murder of approximately six million Jews was a myth. Griffin says he "can't say why I thought those things", or "why I have changed my mind" because "EU law prohibits me from saying so". Jack Straw says there is no such law and given that he is the Justice Secretary he can confirm this. Griffin is seen squirming in his seat and simpering.
A Muslim man in the audience asks "why is Islam a wicked and vicious faith?" Griffin claims that woman are second class citizens, women convicted of being raped are stoned to death, and it condones the murder of Christians and Jews, but then strangely commends Islam for outlawing usury, and claims he wants a "truce" with Muslims where they accept that Britain is fundamentally a 'Christian' country. This is presumably a thinly veiled attempt to convince the audience that he is tolerant, a very example of the crytofascism Dimbleby highlighted minutes before. A Muslim mans speaks out quoting a passage of the Old Testament where all non-Christians are destroyed, presumably to make the point that Griffin's interpretation of the Qur'an is not generally shared by British Muslims.
A member of the audience then asks Jack Straw if the success of the BNP can be put down to the immigration policy of the Labour government. Jack Straw completely avoids the question and rambles on about their attempt to control immigration numbers, points based system, blah, people disturbed by change, blah. Sayeeda Warsi turns this into an immigration crack down points scoring contest; protest vote, blah, issues for BNP voters, blah, poverty, blah, not enough resources blah. Chris Huhne interestingly points out that the government only counts people in, but not going out of the country so the statistics are completely skewed. Griffin rants that the 'indigenous people of Britain' are the "aborigines here" and successive generations have committed genocide against our own race by celebrating multiculturalism. The audience boos in disbelief of his interpretation of genocide. Next an asian man says Griffin should be deported to the south pole and he hopes it is white enough for him there. A woman in the audience talks of an unemployed doctor from Africa who works as a cleaner at her workplace, and states that there are crap jobs which people in this country do not want to do. Jack Straw states that the far right peddles myths about immigration, however I cannot help but think the Daily Mail, the Sun, and the Labour government have been far more successful at this than the BNP. Jack Straw continues to outline how "we could all find ourselves in a minority at some point, so we need to respect each other's rights". Presumably this does not include the rights of Muslims who were demonised and harassed by the state throughout the early stages of the 'war on terror', with Jack Straw infamously stating he would not talk to Muslim women whilst they wore a veil.
Next Griffin was asked about civil partnerships, stated that he "finds the sight of two grown men kissing in public creepy". This is a strange answer because he was asked a question about civil partnerships, not about men kissing in public. I wonder whether Griffin is in denial about something.
Finally, a member of the audience asks "might this programme be an early xmas present for the BNP?" Bonnie Greer says no, people have got too much common sense and they have been exposed for what they really are. Griffin tells us that the BBC is an "ultra left, nasty organisation", which is an interesting insight into how far right he and the BNP actually are. I am sure the BBC are revelling in the unprecedented viewer ratings they will receive, but this challenge to fascism was inspite of the BBC not because of it. Despite their vetting procedures, almost every single person present wanted to challenge the fascist BNP. There was little difference between the people inside the studio and the people outside the studio; albeit with different approaches they were both there to make a loud and direct challenge to fascism.
The mainstream politicians are surely high fiving one another at their attempt to stifle a further exodus of protest votes to the BNP. However the Question Time programme was noted not by the questions which were asked, but by those which weren't. Every member of the panel was an enemy of the working class, particularly Griffin. None of the questions highlighted how the state and corporate media laid the ground for the rise of fascism through years of scapegoating migrants and demonising Islam, or that all political parties serve a powerful corporate elite. The fascist ideology does not recognise the class struggle, opting instead to divide people across racial and cultural boundaries. For these ends Nick Griffin is a useful idiot for the mainstream political parties; whilst people are divided they are not recognising that the real enemy is the elite who have caused the massive increase in wealth disparity over the past 30 years.
However, the fact that they need Nick Griffin to make them look good highlights how fucked things are for parliamentary 'democracy' right now. The mainstream political parties are still as corrupt as ever and people know this. Until the next membership list is leaked, it is important for the radical left to make the most of this crack which has opened.
Comments
Hide the following 10 comments
enemy of the working class
23.10.2009 10:10
Okay, i'll let Bonnie Greer off here, she is pretty cool.
IMCista
Question time
23.10.2009 10:12
Just reading a few comments about last nights question time from other web sites, As far as i can tell most seem to show anger that nick was ganged up on .
Sympathy is something the BNP has used to get votes. There is no doubt that Nick was the loser last night but in the long run if the BNP can use the question time show to get sympathy from the public and turn it into votes. We may have scored a own goal.
NO BNP
.
23.10.2009 10:22
Jenny Taylor
STOPPING THE BNP
23.10.2009 10:53
I personally think that calling the BNP Nazis or Racists is now simply a waste of time, the genral increasse of BNP votes shows this tatic of not having a stronger effect than what we hoped for.
What we need to do is look at their views of the BNP and pull them apart and expose them as lies.
But at the same time we also need to offer a alternative to the BNP.. There is no point exposing the BNP for what they are, and not being able to offer the people who now vote BNP alternative.
Not every one who votes BNP is racist or a Nazi but if you look at the three main political parties in this country you can understand why people who once voted for the other main parties,who now vote BNP would not want to return to Lab/Con/Lib Dem .
NO BNP
what a joke!
23.10.2009 11:32
anarchist
A bit of class
23.10.2009 11:37
I would've liked to ask Griffin if he thought that we could all get a better deal if migrant and domestic workers fought side by side against their employers who are cutting jobs and increasing the intensity of work, instead of fighting amongst each other for the crumbs of the bosses table.
It would've also been nice to see an honest debate about the political Multiculturalism that states that it is our race, nationality and religion that define us as people and ask the panelists if they thought this approach to allocating resources and defining communities has helped the BNP to flourish and further divided our communities along artifical lines.
The best thing to come out of this was Griffin looking like a clown, as did the rest of the politicians in my opinion. It looks like "none of the above" have won again!
bruisedshins
BBC were fools!
23.10.2009 12:31
Griffin was constantly interrupted and not allowed to explain his views... this was a massive error on behalf the bbc. Griffin is prone to racist and homophobic rants given half the chance. Simple questions about gay adoption rights, civil partnerships, or equality rights to protect homosexual teenagers from bullying in school would have caught the man off guard and exposed his extremist views and plans for the UK. Given half the chance he'd piss off the entire gblt body of the UK galvanising further support again him, however given that he wasn't allowed to explain his master plan nor views on the subject in full these frankly vile extremist views were left buried. Unless viewers had previously browsed the bnp's website for issues on gender equality and sexuality the general public has simply been left in the dark on the issue.
Opposition to immigration on the basis of nationality and race is not the bnp's only policy, they are also opposed to trade unions, gender equality, equality for homosexuals, fair treatment for those with mental illness, etc. There are many arguments against the bnp, it would be wise for the movement to utilise all of them.
Green & Black
UAF = Uneffective Against Fascism
23.10.2009 15:08
Then just minutes after the convoy left, along come UAF with their lollipops. Incompitence? or UAF avoiding direct confrontation?
Fashbasha
The Victim Mentality
23.10.2009 15:34
When asked about Churchill he could have said, "The BNP are proud of all White Racist Warmongers", instead he regurgitated some slops from a fundraiser: "My Dad was in the RAF". Edgar Griffin was also a Conservative Party Councillor and led Ian Duncan Smiths leadership campaign. Someone in Conservative Central Office edited the Nick Griffin Wikipedia entry to remove the relationship. Someone in Conservative Central Office also removed the "statement on Edgar Griffins expulsion".
Nick Griffin is the model victim for the Working Class to aspire to. Question Time handed him a huge bucket of self pity to wallow in. The BNP make victims out of their members. They leak the BNP Membership lists (whatever anybody says: Sadie Graham was actually member when she leaked the list) to encourage attacks on marginal members. Their entire organisation centres around the Leader and his Cadre of Bullies. Yet all the time they crank out the same story: look at us poor victims.
Griffin is objecting that Question Time should not have been held in London. Where then: Codnor, Powys? London is as good a place as anywhere else in the real world outside his cocoon of cotton wool. The truth is Question Time showed up all the political parties. It showed the collusion between the Victim Party of the BNP and the Ruling Liberal-Labour-Tory alliance: the political elite. It showed that there is a place for a Victim Mentality Party and that is the BNP.
Nick Griffin is guilty of a number of crimes, but the biggest crime he is perpetrating is the creation of a systematic victim mentality among white working class men. The EDL is yet another manifestation of that.
The Question that nobody asked was, "Why do you continute to promote a victim mentality?"
A Former BNP Member
UAF
23.10.2009 15:52
BBC TV centre is such a large complex building it doesn't take a genius to work out that a building like that would have more than one entrance .
I support any protest against the BNP and the sight of vast amount of people outside the main entrance of BBC centre was a great to sight to see.
But surely breaking the group up to cover all entrances early in the protest would have been a more affective tactic, there by stopping Nick and his goons from entering the building and not appearing on question time which was the one and maybe the main reason for the protest .
I just heard nick Griffin asking for question time to happen again, if he can get enough support for this we may back again in the same situation, but hopefully this time we will have learnt a few more tricks
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