Lewis Bazley, In the News (London), October 24, 2009
More than a fifth of voters would consider supporting the British National Party after leader Nick Griffin appeared on Question Time, a new poll has revealed.
A YouGov survey taken in the hours after Mr Griffin’s controversial appearance on the BBC1 show found that 22 per cent of voters would “seriously consider” voting for the BNP in a future local, general or European election.
Some 15 per cent of that total was comprised of respondents who said they were “possible” BNP voters, with three per cent saying they would “probably” consider casting a vote for the far-right party and four per cent confirming they would “definitely” vote for the BNP.
However, two thirds of those surveyed said they would never vote for the party under any circumstances while the rest of respondents were unsure.
Welsh secretary Peter Hain said the poll vindicated his fears about the ramifications of Mr Griffin’s appearance on Question Time.
“The BBC has handed the BNP the gift of the century on a plate and now we see the consequences,” he commented. “I’m very angry.”
In response the a BBC spokesman told Sky News: “We have been very clear in setting out our reasons for having Nick Griffin on Question Time.
“The BBC’s obligation is around due impartiality. It is not our job to comment on the ebb and flow of opinion polls.”
Thursday evening’s show saw Mr Griffin criticising Islam and homosexuality, labelling the Ku Klux Klan “almost entirely non-violent” and insisting he was “not a Nazi”.
[Editors Note: As of 6:00 PM, though the link to the original story is written correctly, the page was not accessible on the Internet. It may be that the story has been removed, but the usual “page has moved” message does not come up.]
Original article
(Posted on October 26, 2009)
Comments
I hope that translates to the actual voting booth, but I think much the same thing will happen in the UK that happens here — the media will cheer lead on the lamestream liberal party (in this case, Labour), and they’ll close the gap with the Tories (i.e. we will be told that they are), and a majority of the 22% that say that they would consider BNP will fall in line with either lamestream party that they would otherwise vote for.
I did not see the infamous episode of Question Time, but by most accounts Mr. Griffin’s performance was less than stellar. However, what may be best remembered about this sordid affair was the shameless bias of the hostile elite on display before 8 million viewers.
I believe the ranks of the BNP will continue to swell. As the US economy continues its inexorable slide into the abyss, we will drag Britain and the rest of Europe with us. The BNP may very well become a significant force in British politics.
UK politics isn’t just about Democrats or Republicans, and they have a long political tradition. 22% is a fairly high number.
People are so gullible. Britain’s major parties will co-opt (pay lip service to) the BNP’s major issues, tell indigenous voters the BNP can’t win, kick BNP activists out of public-financed housing, and allow those issues to fade away over the next generation. Sound familiar? It should. Can anybody spell REPUBLICANS or GOP?
If British polls are anything like American polls, then people are going to give answers based on emotion, more than just rationality, ESPECIALLY following an event that inspires plenty of emotion. For example, in the USA, people polled on gun control questions, following a mass shooting, are almost always going to favor “stricter gun control” in high percentages, than those who do not.
Likewise, Nick Griffin’s appearance on the BBC program, answering questions calmly and rationally, inspired a “spike” in the numbers of likely BNP voters. Whether or not, they will stay that high, remains to be seen.
Nick Griffin reminds me of Mikhail Gorbachev of the old USSR. Sometimes a nation in decline under a rotten regime is fortunate enough to have a great statesman come along to turn things around. Perhaps it is in the chemistry of great nations that leaders emerge when they are most needed. Gorbachev came along when the USSR badly needed reform and perhaps now is the historical moment for Griffin to rescue Britain.
The establishment is throwing fits because the BBC opened a breach in the parliamentary and journalistic ‘cordon sanitaire’ that has been the response to rightist parties in contemporary, leftist-dominated Europe.
The masses heard the message, and the 15 percent polled were receptive. The establishment can’t ignore a number like that.
2 — Randolph Carter wrote at 7:05 PM on October 26:
I did not see the infamous episode of Question Time, but by most accounts Mr. Griffin’s performance was less than stellar. However, what may be best remembered about this sordid affair was the shameless bias of the hostile elite on display before 8 million viewers.”
- - I agree that his performance was less than stellar. However, we must be patient. He had a great opportunity, but then again the opposition against JUST ONE MAN was overwhelming. Everyone on that panel attacked him. Every member of the audience who was allowed to speak attacked him. The audience itself was no doubt chosen based on their political beliefs and hatred of Nick Griffin and the BNP. He did get in one or two good shots in the beginning like when he reminded that sob Jack Straw that his father was in prison during WWII for NOT fighting the same Nazi’s that Straw was denigrating. But he weakened under all the opposition. This is how these cowards operate. So let’s not hold it against Nick Griffin for not doing as well as he might have. There will be other opportunities down the road.
I think more people would vote for the BNP, they are just to brainwashed to admit it. Might be considered to openly admit such an incredible thing. But, at the voting booth, in private things will probably change. BNP will be more popular.
Let’s remember that it was Peter Hain who opposed apartheid in favor of Black power while as a citizen of South Africa. Then he eventually deserted Africa for a whiter Britain. Now he’s opposing the rights of indigenous Whites. His only principle seems to be antiwhite, and he’s certainly not a man to be trusted?
The UK mainstream is enraged because finally, at long last, Britain has produced a politician worthy to succeed Enoch Powell.
Nick Griffin was ambushed by the BBC. He was led to believe that he was to appear on a programme where four invited guests would discuss issues of the day. Instead, most of the programme was given over to attacks on him by the other guests and by members of the audience. Had he known what was coming, he would have been better prepared.
In the circumstances, he did quite well.
To the naysayers here (wondering whether the 22% will translate into 22% of the electorate voting BNP) - remember that the situation is getting worse every day, and VISIBLY worse - even the most dyed in the wool liberal hand wringing idiot can’t ignore what they see with their own eyes, when an immigrant family moves into their street, and then another one, and then everywhere they go, they see more brown faces than were there the same time last year.
This can only mean more and more people will be voting BNP, and soon it will reach a critical mass where it is no longer viewed as a ‘crime’ to vote BNP (which is solely due to the influence of the media, which is completely left wing).