Question Time

I watched Question Time last night with great interest. Thankfully, Nick Griffin managed to blunder through the programme, exposing his policies for the bigoted tripe they really are. What I found surprising, though, that the other panel members, even Mr Dimbleby himself, and the overwhelming majority of the audience were ardently against him before he opened his mouth. Something in me expected (and maybe feared) that the proceedings would be a lot more, well, political, than they were in that I expected Griffin to be a lot more eloquent, and the other panel members more willing to listen. Or pretend, at least.

So he had a pretty terrible time of it, leading many to fear that in the wake of the programme he will be victimised for being 'picked on' or whatever. Surely not. Not only did he come across as racist, extreme and faintly ridiculous, he was also resorted to incredibly childish methods of defending himself. Early on in the show he was attacked for using the figure of Winston Churchill in his campaign leaflets and so on, and Jack Straw really got stuck in with the verbal tomato throwing. Griffin retorted in the only way he could, by making a completely irrelevant remark about how his grandfather had fought in WWII while Straw's grandfather was in prison as a conscientious objector. What tripe. Playground tactics - for shame.

I did, however, feel sorry for Griffin on one score. Poor chap. I mean, being told that people only vote for your party out of frustration for other parties must have been like someone telling you that someone only slept with you because they were bored.

Ouch, indeed.