Now that the enormous shindig over Griffin’s appearance on Question Time has faded from the headlines, it’s possible to take a slightly longer view of its meaning and significance. Those who believe that the BNP is so hateful a party distilling racial poison that it should not in any circumstances be accorded the oxygen of publicity will not be assuaged by the fact that Griffin was given an awful kicking which may well do hom and his party long-term damage. Those who believe that the right to free speech should prevail irrespective of the political views held will be concerned that it was such a relentless five-on-one confrontation that a fair hearing was impossible. The BBC itself took so many brickbats that its much-vaunted claim to impartiality was lost in the swirl of recriminations, made only worse by the suspicion that its real motive was not fair play but fear of being taken to the High Court by the BNP for discrimination and losing. So, losers all round.

But perhaps the real losers in all this commotion are the political parties, particularly Labour. The key question is not whether the BNP should be awarded an annual slot on Question Time or whether Griffin is allowed to take part in TV debates between the party leaders in the run-up to the election, but how the BNP ever managed to get into the position where such demands could plausibly be made. On that score the BNP intrusion is an index of the electorate’s alienation from the main parties, especially the governing party. Nor is it difficult to see why.
The BNP targets the white working class who represent some 40% of the electorate. Their wages have been frozen or cut as a result of the recession, whilst the bankers who caused it have soaring pay and bonuses unregulated. They have been disproportionately hit by unemployment as a result of the credit crunch. Their unions have been marginalised and disregarded, so that they feel insecure and unprotected in their job when they need it most in a recession. They are most vilnerable to dispossession of their homes through not being able to keep up with their mortgages. They are also the main victims of the collapse of house-building of affordable homes both to buy and to rent, with just a few hundred homes being built per year against 1.8 million households on the waiting list. They are the main victims of crime, both in terms of property and personal attack. And they are most likely to find themselves living next to immigrant families which, without being racist, they may resent.
Is it then surprising that the BNP is making some headway (though rather exaggerated), and is it not obvious that the way to contest this and their hateful values is not by counter-demonstrations and violence on the streets, but rather by a radical change of policy across the board to make white working class voters feel valued, supported and benefited again which at present the great majority do not?

Bookmark to: