Good times for the BNP just now. Vote is up around the country, a couple of MEPs and now appearing on BBC's Question Time without even appearing to lobby for it.
The argument for the BBC's defence is that now there will be an opportunity for the BNP to be exposed. But the Question Time format does not lend itself to this kind of cross examination (more on this here). The programme consists of politicians essentially making prerehearsed speeches on the issues of the day.
There was an opportunity for the BBC to be badly exposed on this issue but it appears as if a cross party consensus has emerged for them all to eschew the long standing policy of not sharing platforms with the far-right. It appears the lure of TV cameras makes everything different to your normal town hall meetings. One thing that should further make us doubt the likelihood of the BNP being "exposed" on Question Time is the pandering that the mainstream parties have done on matters of immigration, race and faith in recent years.
We may not have heard the last of this. But my other hope is that if the BNP are invited onto the programme in Scotland, that the Scottish parties do at least unite and refuse to take part.
