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Entries in Sayeeda Warsi (1)

Friday
Oct232009

Video from Britain: The British National Party and BBC's "Question Time"

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Britain has been caught up this week in a debate over whether the leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin, should appear on the BBC's headline political discussion programme, Question Time. The BNP, which has its roots in the 1980s National Front, is primarily defined by its views on race and immigration, which many see as a "whites-only" or "whites-first" policy, both for the BNP's membership and for its vision of England/Britain.


Griffin was joined by British Minister of Justice Jack Straw (Labour Party), Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion Sayeeda Warsi (Conservative), member of Parliament Chris Huhne (Liberal Democrat), and playwright and deputy chair of the British Museum, Bonnie Greer.

Videos of protests outside the BBC and a six-minute extract of the discussion are followed by the full programme in six parts:

Before the programme, crowds gathered outside the BBC to protest Griffin's appearance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG1sc5aKDBw[/youtube]

From the start of the discussion, the focus was on the BNP and race, wrapped up in notions of "British" or "English" identity, personified initially by Winston Churchill and then by the multi-cultural Britain that has developed since World War II. Notice also the exchange over the Holocaust, which is likely to dominate British news coverage today:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIHNJP9e9EQ[/youtube]

The programme moved on to other topics, including an interesting exchange over British and Islam in Part 3 and over the merits of "indigenous" residents of Britain in Parts 5-6. Question Time in full (6 parts):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK6Gw4Qlz0A[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vrrGuwAfq4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgG5W7VVR0&feature=channel[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-Nbwi4KZBA&feature=channel[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3gDnq9E4vw&feature=channel[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jQsTtbR1OU&feature=channel[/youtube]