Quashing free speech

Not too surprising, Peter Hain is to make a formal complaint to the BBC Trust over the appearance of the British National Party leader, Nick Griffin, on BBC1's Question Time next week.

Hain to complain to BBC over BNP on 'Question Time'

Peter Hain is to make a formal complaint to the BBC Trust over the appearance of the British National Party leader, Nick Griffin, on BBC1's Question Time next week. This follows what insiders described as a "robust" meeting between the Secretary of State for Wales and the show's executive producer, Ric Bailey, during the Labour Party conference.
Mr Hain said yesterday: "I fundamentally disagree with the BBC's decision. I fully understand why colleagues feel they have to appear, but I certainly wouldn't appear with a racist, fascist representative – I think it gives them legitimacy."
But Peter Sissons, a former chairman of Question Time, attacked the Labour minister yesterday: "Instead of bleating to the BBC Trust, why doesn't the great campaigner offer to go on the programme and dismantle the BNP's policies himself?"
Separately, a recent broadcast in which two senior BNP activists were deemed to have been given an easy ride by Radio 1's Newsbeat programme has already attracted 100 complaints, says the Mail on Sunday. Mark Collett and Joseph Barber were introduced only as "Mark and Joey", and went on to claim that the England footballer Ashley Cole "was not ethnically British".
The location of the Question Time recording will be kept secret, due to security concerns, with audience members being screened in an attempt to weed out anti-fascist protesters and BNP supporters.
The broadcasting union Bectu, meanwhile, is threatening to strike if the BBC attempts to film the programme at Television Centre in London. "If they try to compel any of our members to work on the programme then, bluntly, there'll be trouble up to and including industrial action," said Luke Crawley, Bectu's assistant general secretary.

Now I don't agree with what the BNP have to say, I think their left wing economics and their authoritarian racist beliefs are abhorrent, however I don't agree with any attempt to gag them. That's a socialist trick and like most aspects of socialism will backfire as it just gives the BNP more publicity, adds to their martyrdom complex and makes people vote for them as they tend to see the utter failure Labour have made of the last 12 years and can't bring themselves to vote Tory.

So, what Hain is doing (and Labour just can't seem to help themselves) is giving the BNP free publicity just before Question Time and probably making it the most watched this year (at least) I suspect Labours biggest fear is that the BNP come over as fairly ordinary or even normal and leave people wondering just what all the fuss is about. For too long politicians of the authoritarian left have been pointing the finger and screaming racist or fascist at the BNP and now their greatest fear will be that the BNP just come across as "The Labour your parents would have voted for" Yes there will be the accusations of racism, but compared to the mess that Labour have made of unlimited immigration I doubt that that criticism is going to wash anymore. People are genuinely worried about what is going to happen to their country and their lives and they know who to blame, who supports minority rights over the majority, who wrecked the economy, and most important, who the liars are.

Labours world is falling apart, their brownshirt thugs (the UAF) try to stifle legitimate worries and protests and the BNP are getting over 1 million votes in the EU elections from ex Labour voters mostly. I think the retribution at the next general election is going to hit them very badly, perhaps they'll never recover, but they only have themselves to blame.