Industry | 2009.10.13
Bonnie Greer set for TV debate with BNP
BBC confirms black playwright and critic as guest panellist for show to feature British National Party\'s Nick Griffin
Black writer Bonnie Greer will appear on next week\'s controversial edition of BBC1\'s Question Time, which will feature British National Party leader Nick Griffin.
The Anglo-American playwright and critic has been confirmed as a guest panellist by the BBC today, along with Justice Secretary Jack Straw, due to appear on the programme on Thursday 22 October.
Anti-fascist campaigners are planning a protest against the BNP leader\'s presence on the show outside the BBC\'s Television Centre in west London.
The need for heightened security for the filming of next week\'s Question Time has raised questions about how much it will cost and whether the Metropolitan Police will have to foot the bill.
A statement on the Unite Against Fascism website said: "We are calling a demonstration outside Question Time at the BBC\'s Wood Lane centre to show our opposition to Griffin and the shameful decision to grant him a platform.
"We encourage all anti-fascists in the London area to come to the demonstration and to apply for tickets to the Question Time audience."
Straw was the first senior Labour politician to say he would appear on the show alongside Griffin. Fellow cabinet ministers Peter Hain and Alan Johnson said they would not appear on the show if the BNP leader was invited.
A BBC spokesman said: "We are obliged in our charter to treat all parties registered with the Electoral Commission, operating within the law, with due impartiality that is reflected in the amount of time we give them.
"We have already interviewed Nick Griffin on other programmes in the past, that is why he is featuring on Question Time."
The BBC has already come under fire for providing a platform for the BNP\'s views after two party members were interviewed on BBC Radio 1\'s Newsbeat programme earlier this month.
The pair were introduced anonymously as "two young guys who are members of the BNP", but it was later revealed that they were BNP publicity director Mark Collett and Joseph Barber, who runs the BNP record label, Great White Records.
Hain, the Welsh secretary, said the interview cast serious doubts over the "corporation\'s grip" on covering the far-right party.
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