Robert Buckland Weblog

The sight of senior politicans running around waving their hands in their air about Nick Griffin’s dismal performance on BBC Question Time this week is rather worrying.  They are making the mistake of taking seriously the ragbag army of extremists, consipracy theorists and unpleasant nutcases that make up the senior echelons of the BNP instead of taking seriously the issues raised by an increase in support for this deeply unpleasant band.

There can be no doubt that Griffin is an empty vessel – perhaps the mother of the balloon child from Colorado would have made a better contribution to proceedings and acheived the instant fame she apparently craves.  There are serious doubts, however, about the format of Question Time.  I have thought for a long time that the artificiality of the audience selection, the control exercised over the questions by David Dimbleby and the editorial team and the often strange choice of panellist has made it virtually unwatchable.  There were times on Thursday night that Mr. Dimbleby strayed from the role of moderator into hostile interrogator.  However replusive the views of Griffin, there was a feeling at times that impartiality was being lost in all of this.

By contrast, Radio 4s “Any Questions”, which reaches out to the village halls of the nation, attracts genuinely local audiences.  The questions are relevant and intelligent and the panels generate much more light than heat.

I wonder whether we should move away from the stage management approach to a panel programme where the interrogators are a bank of journalists – a kind of “Meet the Press”.   The programme could then be genuinely moderated by an experienced broadcaster.

The BNP does not deserve our panic.  Those who may have voted for it in despair at the lack of engagement by mainstream parties in issues they care about deserve our full attention, however.