Discussion
Why is anyone in their right mind asking for Nick Griffin to be barred from Question Time this week? Apart from the fact that everyone has a right to their views in this country, surely the best way to make the BNP look stupid is to allow him on and watch the panel and audience barbeque him for an hour?
st_files said:
Why is anyone in their right mind asking for Nick Griffin to be barred from Question Time this week? Apart from the fact that everyone has a right to their views in this country, surely the best way to make the BNP look stupid is to allow him on and watch the panel and audience barbeque him for an hour?
I think giving him a hard time would be the worst thing to do. Being completely polite and courteous would be far better.
Let him make himself look foolish, don't give him any ammunition to use in the paper the next day, "they were picking on me, didn't give me the chance to say what I wanted to".
The man is an odious toad with even more odious friends and completely odious views, but I'd rather see him on TV than barred. The TV does have an OFF button, if those people who are complaining really don't want to see him on there.
One of the perils of free speech is that people can say things that you find hideous but they have the right to say it.
He has as much right to be there as any other MP / guest.
I for one will be watching and hoping he makes himself and his party look silly but I'm pretty sure he won't.
He has as much right to be there as any other MP / guest.
I for one will be watching and hoping he makes himself and his party look silly but I'm pretty sure he won't.
aclivity said:
st_files said:
Why is anyone in their right mind asking for Nick Griffin to be barred from Question Time this week? Apart from the fact that everyone has a right to their views in this country, surely the best way to make the BNP look stupid is to allow him on and watch the panel and audience barbeque him for an hour?
I think giving him a hard time would be the worst thing to do. Being completely polite and courteous would be far better.
Let him make himself look foolish, don't give him any ammunition to use in the paper the next day, "they were picking on me, didn't give me the chance to say what I wanted to".
The man is an odious toad with even more odious friends and completely odious views, but I'd rather see him on TV than barred. The TV does have an OFF button, if those people who are complaining really don't want to see him on there.
I have come up with a cunning plan for removing Griffin from the picture sharpish. You get porridge in Germany if you're a holocaust denier, so the European Parliament need to send him on a fact-finding mission to Frankfurt ASAP, given that he's on record as having said that it was about as real as the earth was flat.
If he'd been voted in by thousands or even tens of thousands, it would probably be better ignored, but the BNP got almost a million votes. It's time for a debate, which, if properly handled, will expose the sinister underbelly of that party's positions. I hope QT is a start in this process
Remember the protest when he was elected? It's fair enough if people in other areas who didn't vote BNP want to protest - they too have the freedom to say what they like - but the idea I've heard bandied about that he should be barred from taking his seat or stripped of his citizenship is just mob mentality nonsense. Racists are a small (if vocal) minority in this country, but that doesn't mean we should deny them their right to free speech and even to stand for election if they wish.
My understanding of UK freedom of speech laws are that they are fairly wide open as long as you avoid incitement of racial or religious hatred and/or defamation. Unless you were a member of Sinn Fein or the UVF in the late 1980s, in which case, you weren't allowed to say anything publically with your own voice. A fantastic example if ever there was one that you give someone more publicity and credibility in the long run if you attack their freedom of speech instead of just engaging them in debate and allowing them enough verbal rope with which to string themselves up.
If there's a disgrace it's that a great many people in the UK think they can sit in on a Thursday night and watch reruns of Britain's Got Talent instead of walking half a mile to a polling station to cast a vote, safe in the supposed knowledge that all they need to do is send a text to the Daily Mail the next day to protest if they don't like the outcome of the election.
If he'd been voted in by thousands or even tens of thousands, it would probably be better ignored, but the BNP got almost a million votes. It's time for a debate, which, if properly handled, will expose the sinister underbelly of that party's positions. I hope QT is a start in this process
Remember the protest when he was elected? It's fair enough if people in other areas who didn't vote BNP want to protest - they too have the freedom to say what they like - but the idea I've heard bandied about that he should be barred from taking his seat or stripped of his citizenship is just mob mentality nonsense. Racists are a small (if vocal) minority in this country, but that doesn't mean we should deny them their right to free speech and even to stand for election if they wish.
My understanding of UK freedom of speech laws are that they are fairly wide open as long as you avoid incitement of racial or religious hatred and/or defamation. Unless you were a member of Sinn Fein or the UVF in the late 1980s, in which case, you weren't allowed to say anything publically with your own voice. A fantastic example if ever there was one that you give someone more publicity and credibility in the long run if you attack their freedom of speech instead of just engaging them in debate and allowing them enough verbal rope with which to string themselves up.
If there's a disgrace it's that a great many people in the UK think they can sit in on a Thursday night and watch reruns of Britain's Got Talent instead of walking half a mile to a polling station to cast a vote, safe in the supposed knowledge that all they need to do is send a text to the Daily Mail the next day to protest if they don't like the outcome of the election.
GekkoRules said:
One of the perils of free speech is that people can say things that you find hideous but they have the right to say it.
He has as much right to be there as any other MP / guest.
I for one will be watching and hoping he makes himself and his party look silly but I'm pretty sure he won't.
Pretty much agree.He has as much right to be there as any other MP / guest.
I for one will be watching and hoping he makes himself and his party look silly but I'm pretty sure he won't.
The BNP have been saying that they are always misrepresented...here is a chance for them to put themselves across without that. Whether or not Griffin really is so silly...well we shall see precious, we shall see!!
Saddle bum said:
Most TV remotes have a mute button, I shall use said button with Griffin in the same manner as when Brown and his commies are on TV.
I take it you are joking? You would rather just mute the people you are supposed to dislike (goes for Labour and BNP), as dictated to you by media/peers/family, instead of listening to them and then coming up with your own conclusions.Do you read the Daily Mail?
st_files said:
Saddle bum said:
Most TV remotes have a mute button, I shall use said button with Griffin in the same manner as when Brown and his commies are on TV.
If you dont actually listen to this guys point of view, how will you know if you disagree with it?
If you don't listen/read his policies, etc, then how can YOU make an informed choice? If you refuse to bother to listen, you can hardly critisise.6655321 said:
st_files said:
Saddle bum said:
Most TV remotes have a mute button, I shall use said button with Griffin in the same manner as when Brown and his commies are on TV.
If you dont actually listen to this guys point of view, how will you know if you disagree with it? If you don't listen/read his policies, etc, then how can YOU make an informed choice? If you refuse to bother to listen, you can hardly critisise.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff