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March 12, 2010 - Free speech will always carry risks
A serious bout of election fever broke out in Eastbourne this week – even though Gordon Brown has yet to put a cross against May 6 as the likely date for us to go to the polls.
What has been turning stomachs in the town was the thought of the BNP sharing a hustings platform, at a venue owned by the unions.
"Oh no you won't," said the union Unite. "Well then neither will anyone," decided the organisers.
The stand-off is mirrored in Hastings where the refusal of Labour MP Michael Foster to share a stage with the BNP has led to his main-party rivals pulling out, too. Bizarrely, it will leave a platform there with only the BNP, UKIP and the English Democrats represented.
The BNP could not have orchestrated a better publicity campaign for itself in East Sussex.
No-one pretends this is an easy decision. BBC's Question Time eventually defied its critics to allow Nick Griffin to appear in the now infamous television debate that drew one of its biggest ever audiences.
Yes, the programme was hijacked and became little more than an onslaught against the BNP and its policies.
And that might well have been the case with the Eastbourne debate. A forum for young and first-time voters would likely have been infiltrated by activists with only one target in mind.
But in an era of stage-managed politics, there is a growing appetite for traditional hustings-style events.
Free speech will always carry risks but democracy will be the loser if debate is stifled for fear of facing up to the BNP and its extreme views.
• Take part in our online vote: Should the BNP be allowed to take part in political forums? Click HERE to vote.
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Weather for Eastbourne
Saturday 04 February 2012
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