THE BEEB AND THE BNP

by RAY FLEMING
THOSE protesting against the BBC's invitation to the British National Party to appear on a future edition of Question Time seem to have overlooked the fact that not everyone emerges from that show with his or her popularity rating improved. In the case of the BNP and its leader NIck Griffin there must be an even chance that their extreme views will take a knock from fellow participants and, perhaps more noticeably, from the audience. Anyway, there is no good reason for blocking the BNP's presence on one of the most influential of TV's discussion programmes. The party won two seats in the European Parliament last June and it would be ridiculous if it were not able to take its seat in the equally democratic environs of Question Time. The BBC acted sensibly in this case but is still taking flack for its withdrawal from promotional coverage of the UK's Energy Saving Day last year.
Yesterday, Lord May, a former President of the Royal Society, described as “ludicrous” the BBC's decision, allegedly on the grounds that taking sides on environmental issues might be considered “impartial”. The BBC has responded by hinting that the real reason was that Energy Saving Day might not attract many viewers and that the Corporation showed many documentaries and other factual programmes on the subject. In fact, it just happens that it is planning a “big special” on energy consumption later this year. So there.