Watching last night's Question Time and the associated coverage, for me, the most appalling part of it was not the squirming Nick Griffin and his 'softened' fascist rhetoric, it was the sight of police officers nearly being crushed 'defending' BBC Television Centre against hundreds of manic protestors!

Personally, while abhorring what Griffin really stands for - ignore all that stomach-churning spin that came out his mouth last night - I think he was entitled to be on the Question Time panel, in line with the UK's policy of free speech. Watching him being ripped apart by Bonnie Greer was delightful. As usual, it was left to the only non-politician, and David Dimbleby, to provide any clear views and statements, rather than worrying about the consequences of every syllable uttered by the politicians!

Returning to my original point though - watching hundreds of protesters attempt to 'storm' the BBC, before then pushing a pathetically inadequate 'barrier' of 20-30 police backwards was horrifying! Who on earth had the idea of letting a horde that size get so close to Television Centre with so few police officers stopping them? Having broken the initial lifting car park barrier, officers found themselves being crushed against tall steel gates to the BBC car park, with many of them having to take evasive action by being lifted out of the melee by colleagues and other security staff - something eerily reminiscent of Hillsborough!!

Perhaps next time the BBC decides to court such controversy, it might think more pragmatically about the wider implications and cost of providing a neo-Nazi with a mainstream media platform!