What’s the BNP got to do with it?

I think that at this stage of teaching and learning in the British Politics course it is a case of looking for matches between what’s in the news and what the syllabus focuses on. It is unlikely there will be a question on the significance of the BNP in UK parliamentary politics, but we shouldn’t miss the opportunity to see the news that Labour have abandoned its boycott of the far right by agreeing to appear on Question Time alongside the BNP as directly relevant to certain aspects of the course.

In case you missed the story, Francis Elliot in the Times brings you up to speed:

“Labour has been forced to drop its policy of not sharing a platform with the BNP after the BBC confirmed that it is to invite Nick Griffin to appear on Question Time.

The party’s leader together with another BNP candidate were elected as MEPs at the European elections in June, leading to a rethink at the corporation about how much coverage to give the far-right party.

The BBC’s chief political adviser, Ric Bailey, said that the BNP had now “demonstrated evidence of electoral support at a national level” and this would be reflected in the amount of coverage the party received on BBC programmes such as Question Time.”

Labour’s traditional stance has been informed by its opposition to the party’s anti immigration stance, and they have refused to share the same platform with the BNP not just because they abhor what the far right party stands for, but by sharing the same stage they will be lending a veneer of respectability, and by extension legitimacy, to the party.

Some in the Labour fold have expressed both regret and disgust at this change in stance, suggesting that the BNP have been given a passport to power. But comparisons with Hitler’s ascendancy seem way wide of the mark. Britain has a longer history of democracy than most other countries and the masses have never tended towards extremist ideology.

This change can be linked to democreatic principles and related to questions about how democratic it is. It is democratic to refuse to give the BNP a fair shot at laying out its argument? After all, it is registered as a legitimate political party with the Electoral Commission. Or is it an infringement of the civil liberties of those that the BNP seeks to eject from Britain who want to live a peaceful life without fear of anger and hatred? It’s a good one for debate.