No BBC Platform for Racists and Fascists
Former Secretary of State for Wales and anti-apartheid campaigner Peter Hain MP has criticised BBC Wales for their decision to televise a debate between minority parties in Wales which includes the British National Party and Britain First.
BBC Wales had invited the Green Party, NO2EU, Socialist Labour Party, the Social Party of Great Britain, the BNP and BF to participate in a televised debate ahead of the European elections in an effort to give minority parties in Wales television coverage.
However, in a bold decision the Green Party and NO2EU refused to share a platform to debate with BNP and BF while the SLP and SPGB accepted the opportunity.
Now Unite Against Fascism are calling for a protest to be held on 11.30 Wednesday May 14th outside the BBC Building in Llantrisant to demonstrate against the organisations decision to invite the BNP and BF.
The MP for Neath said: “I have spent much of my life fighting against the fascist views of these rancid organisations and I hope BBC Wales will see sense in this matter and remove their invitation to the debate.”
“I have followed their campaigns for the Euro elections closely over the past few weeks and each and every stunt and gimmick they have employed to increase their publicity has made me sick.”
“There is no hiding from the fact that these parties feed on racial hatred and thrive when they can sow malice and poison among our communities.”
“Whenever racist and fascist groups are given a platform for their poison, the number of racial attacks rises locally. The BBC should have no part of this. They are giving legitimacy to racism and fascism by lining such groups up alongside democratic parties like the Greens. The idea that the BF and BNP will be able to spread their filth at the invitation of the BBC is intolerable.’
As well as Mr Hain, Joint Secretary of the UAF Weyman Bennett also voiced his criticism of BBC Wales’ decision saying: “It is disgraceful, these Islamaphobic and racist parties should not have been invited to participate in this debate. They use and promote violence as a means of political activism and I struggle to understand how they are deemed fit to speak on such an important stage as this.”
“At the end of the day they are holocaust deniers, willing to manipulate anything to make a political point, they thrive on division.”
-ENDS –