Rumertron wrote:BNP support in poll sparks anger Peter Hain says his fears have been proved right after a poll suggested support for the BNP has risen after Nick Griffin appeared on Question Time. A YouGov poll in the Daily Telegraph suggests 22% of people questioned would "seriously consider" voting BNP. The Welsh secretary said: "The BBC has handed the BNP the gift of the century on a plate and now we see the consequences. I'm very angry." The show was watched by a record eight million people on Thursday.The opinion poll carried out after Mr Griffin's appearance found 22% of voters would consider voting BNP in a future local, general or European election. Two-thirds of the 1,314 people polled by YouGov for the Daily Telegraph dismissed voting for the party under any circumstances, with the rest unsure....when asked how they would vote in an election tomorrow, the proportion supporting the BNP stood at 3%, up from 2% a month ago.However, more than half of those polled said they agreed or thought the party had a point in speaking up for the interests of indigenous, white British people. The poll did not ask whether their views were affected as a result of Mr Griffin's appearance on Question Time.
I'm not quibbling with the youGov poll...although, it's no secret that friends of the tories, the telegraph included, are tripping over each other in the rush to blame labout for the rise of the bnp.....but what I would argue that everyone is ignoring the other effect of Question Time..
Allow me to explain.
Many, mostly tories, are running around screaming about the so called "rise of the bnp". If you look at how many votes the BNP got in the recent eu elections...there wasn't much of a "rise" in support. In fact in some areas, there was a drop. the reason they won 2 seats was because OTHER VOTERS DIDN'T BOTHER VOTING. Apathy was high and the turnout very low.
The people who support the BNP are small-minded people probably with racist tendencies...question time will not have swayed those voters. But what it will have swayed is all those voters who didn't bother voting in the recent EU elections...they will make DAMN SURE that they will COME OUT AND VOTE in the next council and parliamentary elections to ENSURE THE BNP DON'T GET ANY SEATS.
In other words, the real value of Question Time is that it will energise people apathetic about politics and strike fear into them..i.e. apathy leads to people like nick griffin getting elected.
So, as far as I am concerned, they should give Griffin another go...and another go...and another go...at in-depth interviews/debates, like he demanded yesterday on sky news. Slap him in a room with paxman for an hour, alone...put him on a stage 1-to-1 with jack straw....
It's all good.
You know you love it you dirty bitch!
