Complaints pour in after controversial BBC TV debate

Oct 23, 2009, 13:30 GMT

Anti-BNP (National British Party) demonstrators protest against the appearance of far-right BNP leader Nick Griffin at the BBC Center in London, Britain, 22 October, 2009. EPA/ANDY RAIN

   London - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said Friday it had received hundreds of complaints from viewers following the screening of a TV debate featuring the leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP).

   Meanwhile, BNP leader Nick Griffin insisted he had been unfairly treated on the programme and become the victim of a 'lynch mob' during intense questioning by the audience and fellow-panelists.

   He demanded that the BBC should give him a 'second chance' to get his views across. 'The British people are aghast at the display of bias from the BBC,' said the 50-year-old BNP leader.

   The far-right, anti-immigration party claimed Friday that 3,000 people registered to sign up as members after the show in what it described as its 'single biggest recruitment night.'

   The BBC said the bulk of the more than 350 complaints from the public received by lunchtime Friday accused the BBC of bias against the right-wing party and its leader.

   The flagship Question Time programme late Thursday was watched by 8.2 million viewers, almost three times the usual audience, the BBC said.

   Among them was Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French National Front leader, who in 1984 saw his support double overnight after appearing on a high-profile TV political discussion show.

   In an interview with London's Evening Standard newspaper Friday, Le Pen suggested that the BNP would receive a boost from the programme.

   'Small fish will become big so long as God gives them life. All political groups have started as marginal before becoming important,' he said.

   Downing Street said Prime Minister Gordon Brown did not watch Question Time but thanked Justice Secretary Jack Straw for appearing as the representative of the ruling Labour Party.

   Straw said the programme had been 'catastrophic' for Griffin who had been 'exposed as a fantasizing conspiracy theorist with some very unpleasant views and no moral compass.' dpa at jbl