1 min read
I have a very basic question for those who oppose the appearance of Nick Griffin on Question Time. What about George Galloway?
Here's my point. It's a perfectably respectable position (albeit, in my mind, wrong) to argue that there are some people who, even if they have been democratically elected, espouse views which are so beyond the parameters of civilised discussion that they ought not to be accorded the privilege of access to the BBC (or any other broadcaster). Nick Griffin would clearly fall into that category.
But anyone who is arguing against Griffin's appearance must, if they are not to be guilty of a revealing hypocrisy, also be opposed to granting access to the likes of George Galloway and his SWP-allies in Respect, given what they stand for.
I don't recally any such objections when Mr Galloway has appeared on Question Time.
So I can draw only one conclusion. Those who are arguing against Griffin's appearance think it's fine to be an extremist, so long as you're perceived as being on the left.
(In as much as these labels mean anything, I'd categorise Griffin as an extreme left winger, by the way. Racism is not in any way an indicator of the right - there is a long history of left wing racist bigotry. And the party's economic programme, if it can be described thus, is a version of Labour's 1983 manifesto.)