Barriers breached
Mr Griffin accused the protesters of “attacking the rights of millions of people to listen to what I’ve got to say and listen to me being called to account by other politicians”.
But Weyman Bennett from Unite Against Fascism accused the BBC of “rolling out the red carpet” to Mr Griffin and said his appearance on the flagship discussion programme “will lead to the growth of a fascist party” and promote violence against ethnic minorities.
About 25 people managed to get through the gates and run towards the BBC building when security guards opened them to let in a car. A few minutes later they were led, dragged or carried back outside.
There were also protests outside BBC buildings in Bristol, Liverpool, Nottingham, Glasgow and Belfast.
Earlier on Thursday, BBC director general Mark Thompson said it was up to the government to ban the BNP from the airwaves if it felt Mr Griffin should not be allowed to take part in Question Time.
Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, who had tried to stop the broadcast, said: “The BBC should be ashamed of single-handedly doing a racist, fascist party the biggest favour in its grubby history.”
But Prime Minister Gordon Brown said it was a matter for the corporation and he did not want to interfere with it, while Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw said that most of the cabinet did not share Mr Hain’s view.
BBC Deputy Director General Mark Byford said it had been “appropriate” to invite Mr Griffin to appear given the support the BNP received in the last European elections when it gained its first Euro MPs.
He said: “He was scrutinised and challenged along with the other panellists heavily by the audience, that was right in our view.
“It would have been quite wrong for the BBC to have said ‘yes, you are allowed to stand in elections, yes you have a level of support that now meets the threshold but the BBC doesn’t think that you should be on’.
“We have no views on the politics or the political leaders what we do hold absolutely dear is that due impartiality is a value we uphold and that’s why Mr Griffin was on tonight.”
Comments are closed.
