Oh dear

[djm4_lj]

I understand the temptation, but I very much doubt that anything Nick Griffin could have said in his press conference could have got him the publicity and made him look good to those who voted for him as being pelted by eggs outside Westminster. Doing this just makes him look like a martyr.

As a Liberal, I disapprove of treating any democratically elected representative this way, but even if you don't, I challenge you to convince me that this sort of protest doesn't just play straight into the BNP's hands. They want to be seen in the media being attacked and silenced - a lot of their core support are people who feel that they have no voice, so anything that looks as though this is a deliberate conspiracy to silence them will ring true.

Comments

[djm4]

I agree with most of that. The only quibble I have is that the BNP are participants in a political process that I believe is legitimate, and to that extent I think they are legitimate. I might want to improve the system, but I wouldn't consider banning the BNP from participating in it to be an improvement (although I'd certainly consider a system where they didn't get elected because fewer people wanted to vote for them to be a considerable improvement).

Of course, I understand the reaction as an emotional response, and so have a lot of sympathy with the politicians who walked off-stage during Griffin's and Barnbrook's acceptance speeches. I'm not sure I'd have resisted the urge myself, had I been in their position, even though I think it's the wrong thing to do.

[ajva.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of this too. My use of the word 'legitimise' perhaps doesn't quite reflect what I meant.