Nick Griffin: wary of the issues and scared of the LibDems
It’s not like Nick Griffin to shy away from publicity. His reaction to any possibility of a flicker of spotlight is to run towards it, maximising the impact of his message of hate. But it seems that the BNP leader is now revealing a reticent side to his personality.
Today’s London edition of the BBC’s Politics Show will be covering the constituency of Barking, the one which Griffin hopes to win and become the BNP’s first MP. The programme will feature a discussion between the main parties’ candidates for the seat – and in the case of Barking, the BNP are sadly one of the contenders. But Griffin won’t be appearing, despite an invitation from the BBC. Why?
It appears that Griffin is running scared not just of the BBC, but also of LibDem candidate Dominic Carman. Griffin derides the proposed discussion as ‘another Question Time lynch mob set-up’ and Carman as ‘a failed journalist and plastic candidate in Barking whose sole intention it is to lie about me instead’.
So why this hatred of the LibDem candidate in particular? Because, as announced last week Dominic Carman is not only the son of the late George Carman QC, but also Griffin’s very unofficial biographer. The Times stated that Carman, ‘intends to use information from his research into the biography to attack his opponent. It was never released because publishers were unwilling to associate their brand with the BNP leader’.
“I will put it to good use in exposing Griffin beyond what’s already been in the public domain,” he said. “It’s very important to fight a strong campaign and it will be critical to challenge Nick Griffin every step of the way. I want to make people think long and hard about voting for him in Barking. It’s very, very important.”
So what is Griffin’s excuse for chickening out? He accuses independent producers Juniper of conspiring with the Labour Party, the BBC and the Conservatives and LibDems to ‘shut out’ Griffin’s party and ‘gang up against the BNP in a four-to-one attack’.
Griffin’s second argument is even more bizarre. He takes issue with the BBC for ‘setting up a debate between parliamentary candidates … where the agenda has been preset to only discuss local issues’. Apparently the Labour councillors who currently run the council in Barking and Dagenham have fed inside information to the other participants in today’s programme, in order to leave the BNP looking stupid. I didn’t realise they needed any help.
The secret of Nick Griffin’s successes over the past few years has been to present himself and the BNP as political outsiders, just as much the victims of the establishment as the white working classes he seeks to represent. But shouldn’t someone who represents himself as the leader of a legitimate political party be willing and able to make a case for himself and his party’s politics whenever the opportunity presents itself? Has Nick Griffin realised that his party and politics have no justification in today’s Britain and that their game is up? And have the media learned their lesson – that sunlight is the best disinfectant? Play ‘no-platform’ with the BNP and they become martyrs. Give them the same opportunities as the other parties and they run away in fright.
As The Guardian’s Dave Hill states on his blog, ‘Carman’s candidacy only become known a week ago. Is it already having the desired effect?’
Related posts:
- In which the Queen gives Nick Griffin enough rope …
- So almost no-one agreed with Nick – and he doesn’t understand why?
- Do white South Africans exist, Mr Griffin?
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