The appearance of Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, on BBC Question Time, attracted close to eight million viewers, around three times more than usual. He was greeted by over a thousand protesters, objecting to the BNP itself but also directing their anger at the BBC for allowing Griffin a chance to air his views on national television. The media in the United Kingdom was awash with debate over his appearance for weeks both before and afterwards, creating a seemingly endless snowball effect of publicity for the BNP. The BBC received over three hundred complaints following the programme, two thirds of which reflected Griffin’s own plea that he had been subject to a ‘lynch mob’.
That the views of the BNP are utterly abominable is, for the majority, a given. The predominant attitudes surrounding the furore, however, projected a smug sensibility that did nothing to combat the real issue of far right British politics. Looking down from the clouds to project either self righteous cheek turning or a condescending notion that Griffin would reveal his stupidity and necessitate his own downfall. Bonnie Greer, writing for the Telegraph after she appeared next to Griffin (with her back turned on him to show her indignation in a way that she apparently couldn’t express in words) eventually made a relevant point.
“For me the left has become too smug, too complacent, too trusting in its own insular view of the world.”
The Question Time controversy demonstrated the prevalence of this attitude in the British media and indeed beyond it. This mirrors the sardonic journalism often directed against America and comes down to little more than class snobbery. For this same majority, Griffin’s performance on Question Time was laughable and predictable, but this does not diminish the undeniable rise of the BNP in recent elections. Certainly this was reflective of local issues, in some cases, such as acute housing problems in the London constituency of Barking and Dagenham, but it is also indicative of wider social problems. The online comments on newspaper websites from the Daily Mail to the Guardian show dissatisfaction with the lack of positive action from the panel. The Conservative MP Sayeeda Warsi was the only one who attempted to approach anything near an evaluation of why the BNP have achieved recent success, and was undoubtedly the most rehearsed and coherent panellist. Almost convincing in her defence of Tory immigration policy.
Jack Straw danced around the direct questions asked of him and refused to really engage in any debate over the unspoken reality that in times of economic and social decline, people often move to far right politics. One comment on the Daily Mail website highlights the kind of attitude that the larger part of the British media has repeatedly disregarded.
“The British way of life is being eroded by persistent and unsustainable immigration.”
This epitomizes the kind of rhetoric used by the BNP and is certainly nothing new, but this doesn’t give it any less significance in the current political climate. Why not attack these false assertions head on instead of bombarding Griffin with questions intended to highlight his extremist attitudes? The whole event felt like a reassertion of anti fascist values, a pat on the back for those of us who support multi culturalism and abhor racism. To be honest it all felt too easy.
I am certainly not denying the genuine disgust and anger that the attitudes of the BNP engender, but the Question Time appearance did little to really tackle the relevant concerns. Warsi smugly exclaimed that the programme had been an opportunity to show Griffin up and to crack the shiny veneer erected by the new and improved party PR. This again demonstrates the overarching condescension with which the whole event was approached. Yes, of course he stumbled and backtracked and even giggled in a nauseating fashion. And Yes he claimed that David Duke’s Ku Klux Klan were a “largely non violent organization”, that homosexual men kissing in public was “creepy” and that the United Kingdom had undergone a blood free genocide that resulted in the extermination of “indigenous” British people, whoever they may be.
But this was no surprise, neither was it responded to in a constructive way. Because the reality is that without tackling the attractive elements of the BNP no ground can really be made. The official party website claimed that three thousand new members had joined following the programme and whether this is true or not it reflects the new media savvy BNP that is a genuine concern. The Guardian Journalist Sunny Hundal made a worthy point; “It struck me how many people now claim on radio and websites that although they weren’t racist and would never vote for the BNP, they nevertheless understood why others did. Funny: this argument is never used with Muslim extremists.”
My intention is not to claim empathy with BNP voters but to argue for a real discussion of the issues behind their recent success. This does have to include the leader of the party but it does not mean playing into their hands. Perhaps, as Peter Hain argued, being accepted onto Question Time was indeed the “biggest favour in (the BNP’S) grubby history”. But surely the seats the party had already won were a more valued gift. Griffin’s hideous views are as old as the hills but they need to be tackled now and without condescension.
