Anti-BNP campaigners picket the BBC

Reported by teletext on Thursday, 22 October 2009 (on October 22, 2009)

Protesters have picketed BBC Television Centre ahead of BNP leader Nick Griffin's Question Time appearance as the corporation defended its decision to invite him on the show.BBC director general Mark Thompson challenged the Government to ban the BNP from the airwaves if it felt Mr Griffin should not be allowed to take part.But Prime Minister Gordon Brown said it was a matter for the corporation and he did not want to interfere with it.An appeal by Cabinet minister Peter Hain against Mr Griffin's appearance on the high-profile political programme was thrown out on Wednesday by a special BBC Trust panel. It ruled that it was "a question of editorial judgment" whether it was appropriate for the BNP to be represented on the flagship show and refused to block the move.Mr Thompson issued a strong defence of the decision to invite Mr Griffin on to Question Time, saying "censorship cannot be outsourced to the BBC". The BBC director general said the BNP's recent electoral success, which saw Mr Griffin elected as one of two BNP MEPs, meant it was right to invite him on. And he said only a legal ban, similar to that imposed on Sinn Fein in the 1980s, would lead the Corporation to consider breaching its "central principle of impartiality".Mr Thompson wrote in the Guardian: "If there is a case for censorship, it should be debated and decided in Parliament. Political censorship cannot be outsourced to the BBC or anyone else."Mr Brown said the appearance of Mr Griffin on the programme would present a good chance to expose his "unacceptable" views. He told Real Radio in Yorkshire: "If on Question Time they are asked about their racist and bigoted views that are damaging to good community relations, it will be a good opportunity to expose what they are about."The Prime Minister defended the decision to break with Labour's previous practice of refusing to share a platform with the BNP and to allow Justice Secretary Jack Straw to debate with Mr Griffin this evening."The issue is: should we have someone there? Jack Straw is a very experienced person who has had to deal with the BNP and their awful politics over a period of time," he said. "I hope that the exposure of the BNP will make people see what they are really like."Meanwhile, anti-fascist protesters leafleted BBC staff as they arrived for work at Television Centre in White City, west London. As security staff put up barriers for the protest, Unite Against Fascism asked corporation workers to oppose the controversial debate.

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