Should we hear the BNP or not?

There has a been a lot of discussion recently about the BBC's decision to have invite Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, and MEP, to be on the flagship programme Question Time's panel for this Thursday's show. Amongst others, well-known anti-racism campaigner, Peter Hain has argued against the invite. In part, he justifies his argument that the BNPs consistution breaks equality laws. Personally I think that arguement is not central. The key question is should parties such as the BNP, that are widely perceived to promote racist policies, be allowed to have their voice heard?

I had always personally assumed that the best thing was to get the debate out in the open, and let the BNP hoist itself by its own petard. That when exposed to rational argument as opposed to relying on emotional rhetoric, they would be undermined.

However, I have one nagging concern, that by letting the cat out of the bag, we may make opinions many of us find unacceptable, have a veneer of acceptability. Elisabeth Noell-Neumann suggested in the 1970s that public opinion could be managed in such a way to encourage or discourage certain opinions. Her spiral of silence theory suggests that most individuals will keep to themselves opinions which the rest of society feels are unacceptable. This does not mean that they change their opinion, rather that they just don't voice it.

Noelle-Neumann criticised this spiral of silence by suggesting that in a mediated society, the media shapes those opinions we can voice. Therefore, she noted that in order to change, society needs individuals who don't always toe the norm. Thus when I was a child drink driving did not seem a big deal, but gradually more and more voices have been heard to suggest that it is wrong, and moreover a very big wrong.

What worries me, is that in this instance the spiral of silence theory is being turned on its head. By giving a voice to Griffin, are we encouraging more and more people to publicly agree with him. This does not mean that more citizens will suddenly become racist or support the BNP, but those who are/do privately may be more encouraged to say so publicly. This is especially so since this is not a one-off. Given the number of seats that the BNP are likely to be contesting at the general election they will have some free acess to air through Party Election Broadcasts (PEBs).