Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, is due to take part in Question Time on Thursday. But Peter Hain has declared that it would be illegal to have a BNP representative on the panel:

Now that the BNP have accepted they are at present an unlawful body, it would be perverse of you to maintain that they are just like any other democratically elected party. On their own admission, at present, they are not.

If you do not review the decision you may run the very serious risk of legal challenge in addition to the moral objections that I make.

In my view, your approach is unreasonable, irrational and unlawful.

However, were an election called today (not that Bottler Brown is likely to…) the BNP would be allowed to stand. They are, therefore, a legitimate political party. And as a legitimate political party, the BBC is actually required by their constitution to allow them on.

They have invited other minor parties with a similar level of representation and other politicial extremists (ie, the trade unions). So inviting the BNP on is not illegal in the slightest.

In fact, opening the BNP up to reasoned debate is the only way to defeat the. If they are “no platformed” like Hain wants them to be, they just thrive because they are seen as being persecuted by the mainstream parties. But by shining a light on them, we can expose them for who they are.

The concept of “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” does not exist in politics – or else MPs would be riding high after all the column inches on the expenses scandal. We must expose the BNP but opening them up to proper scrutiny. Putting our fingers in ou ears and going “lalalalala” won’t make them go away. Only debating with them and proiving them wrong will do that.

Perhaps Peter Hain is just worried after Jacqui Smith got a larger boo than Nick Griffin on last week’s Question Time…