Not everyone among my friends thought I was right to say the BBC should have Nick Griffin on BBC Question Time.  Some thought it would win him new fans.  It certainly won the BBC more viewers if it's true that more than 8 million people watched last night (compared to about 2.5 million usually).  Personally, I found the programme a bit like the scene of a car accident.  Horrible to look at but impossible to take my eyes away from.  I draw the following conclusions:

1. Mr Griffin failed to deny many of the accusations about his and his party's true agenda or beliefs.  He admitted he was a Holocaust denier, a racist and white supremacist, a homophobe, and an associate of the Ku Klux Klan (though it's news to me that they're a non-violent organisation).
2. The BBC turned the event into the Nick Griffin show.  I had assumed that whilst the first question would centre on him and his party, we would see him invited to answer questions on the broad range of issues the public deserve to know his views on - for example, the continuing recession, youth unemployment, illiterate children, rising taxation.  We did not.
3. The anti-fascist protests outside Television Centre seemed more like anti-freedom of speech protesters. Millions of people are so disillusioned with politics they have supported the BNP.  That's why the BNP have 2 MEPs and nearly 60 councillors.  Denying them a platform has not worked thus far!  And invading the BBC hardly gives them the moral high ground.  The likes of David Lammy and Peter Haine have clearly learned nothing.
4. Jack Straw ducked and dived the question on immigration and social justice.  The fact is this: Labour have been in office over a decade and promised to support the poorest and most vulnerable in society.  Over a million young people are out of work and without training, pensioners are starving or dyeing of hyperthermia, there is a crisis in housing and education.  Is it a coincidence that the BNP has gained ground under Blair and Brown?

If nothing else, this programme made politics a little more interesting for a lot more people.  Suddenly there's a real debate about the future direction of this country.