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| Version 6 | Version 7 |
|---|---|
| Straw joins debate alongside BNP | Straw joins debate alongside BNP |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Justice Secretary Jack Straw has agreed to take part in a debate alongside the British National Party on the BBC's Question Time programme. | |
| Mr Straw told the BBC he would join a panel which will include BNP leader Nick Griffin, the Tories and Lib Dems, in London on 22 October. | Mr Straw told the BBC he would join a panel which will include BNP leader Nick Griffin, the Tories and Lib Dems, in London on 22 October. |
| He said the BNP were defeated when Labour "fought them hard". | He said the BNP were defeated when Labour "fought them hard". |
| Labour has previously refused to debate with the BNP, and some activists have branded the policy change "a disgrace". | |
| The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had already said they would take part in the programme. | The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had already said they would take part in the programme. |
| Speaking on the Politics Show in the North West, Mr Straw said: "Wherever we have had BNP problems in my area and when we have fought them hard, we've pulled back and won the seats back. | Speaking on the Politics Show in the North West, Mr Straw said: "Wherever we have had BNP problems in my area and when we have fought them hard, we've pulled back and won the seats back. |
| "And that's what we have to do. We've got to make the argument for people and I am delighted to do so." | "And that's what we have to do. We've got to make the argument for people and I am delighted to do so." |
| The BBC had already confirmed that it may invite Mr Griffin, who was elected as an MEP in June, to appear on a future edition of the Question Time, saying it was bound by the rules to treat all political parties with "due impartiality". | The BBC had already confirmed that it may invite Mr Griffin, who was elected as an MEP in June, to appear on a future edition of the Question Time, saying it was bound by the rules to treat all political parties with "due impartiality". |
| Policy reviewed | Policy reviewed |
| No BNP representatives have yet appeared on the BBC's flagship panel show. | No BNP representatives have yet appeared on the BBC's flagship panel show. |
| But the corporation reviewed its position following the far-right party's success in last June's European elections, in which Mr Griffin was one of two BNP candidates to be elected as an MEP. | But the corporation reviewed its position following the far-right party's success in last June's European elections, in which Mr Griffin was one of two BNP candidates to be elected as an MEP. |
| A Labour spokesman said the party had reviewed its policy of refusing to share a platform with the BNP. | A Labour spokesman said the party had reviewed its policy of refusing to share a platform with the BNP. |
| The spokesman said: "Following the BBC's decision to allow Nick Griffin to appear on Question Time, the Labour Party has agreed we should take on the disgusting politics of the BNP by participating in the programme. | The spokesman said: "Following the BBC's decision to allow Nick Griffin to appear on Question Time, the Labour Party has agreed we should take on the disgusting politics of the BNP by participating in the programme. |
| He added that future programmes would be treated "on a case-by-case basis". | He added that future programmes would be treated "on a case-by-case basis". |
| But Tony Kearns, assistant general secretary of the Communication Workers' Union, said it was a "disgrace" the BBC was going ahead with offering the BNP a Question Time seat. | |
| He urged government ministers and MPs to join protests against the decision. | He urged government ministers and MPs to join protests against the decision. |
| 'Serious players' | |
| Jon Cruddas, Labour MP for Dagenham, who has led campaigns against the BNP, said it was difficult for Labour to know how to respond to sharing a platform with the anti-immigration party. | |
| He told a fringe meeting at the Labour conference in Brighton: "It's a high wire act. I don't know what the precise solution to this is. Over the years we've had a no platform thing with the BNP but that offers diminishing returns now because they're in forms of electoral representation that they never were when we devised that policy". | |
| He said BNP leader Nick Griffin will be "extraordinarily effective" at "pretending he's something he's not". | |
| But he added: "At the same time you have to respect the office that they hold and that's the dilemma we now have. | |
| "I've never shared a platform with the BNP. But Jack's one of our most sophisticated and seasoned participants. He knows the BNP from his own back yard. | |
| "I think he could take it to them and expose them. The real problem would be if we put up people who don't know what their talking about when they deal with them." | |
| He added: "There's no doubt the BNP are serious players in the political game, in town halls as well as the European parliament and they're not going to go away. | |
| "We need to raise our game in confronting them because we've allowed them to eat into slices of the electorate in the last few years." |