I lead an organisation that is proud of its ‘No Platform’ policy for racists and fascists, including the British National Party. Thanks to repeated attempts by young BNP members to contest the NUS presidency in the hope of courting controversy and generating attention, our No Platform policy is our only policy stance enshrined in the NUS constitution by our members. I was a long standing advocate of No Platform before last night’s Question Time programme and I remain an advocate now.

For all the column inches, blog articles and #bbcqt commentary on Twitter, we have learned surprisingly little from Nick Griffin’s appearance on one of the BBC’s flagship programmes. Griffin is a well known holocaust denier, but when pressed on the programme simply protested that he doesn’t have criminal convictions for holocaust denial. Griffin likes rubbing shoulders with international nazis and the Ku Klax Klan, but when pressed about the company he keeps simply protested that the Klan is largely non-violent. Griffin is a hate filled homophobe, but is seemingly the modicum of good manners, chastening Jan Moir for speaking ill of the dead. This doesn’t make me, or any other member of the gay community, feel any better about being described as ‘repulsive’, though at least the feeling’s mutual.

Bulletins produced by Searchlight and Unite Against Fascism offer far better insight into the dangerous policies of BNP than last night’s programme.
We did learn that Nick Griffin doesn’t consider himself a Nazi and feels maligned by those who are. All this tells us is that people even more barmy than Nick think he hasn’t gone far enough.

Electorally, the BNP have come too far already. They are the most successful fascist party at the ballot box in British history. They have two members speaking for Britain in the European parliament, a member on the Greater London Assembly and scores of councillors across the country. It’s therefore unsurprising, perhaps, that the tried and tested methods of the anti-fascist movement have come under so much scrutiny and criticism.

But those who ask if No Platform policy is working are asking the wrong question. The real question is whether giving Nick Griffin a high profile platform like Question Time will help the fight to stop him.

For students’ unions, the case for No Platform is, perhaps, more clear cut than for Britain’s broadcasters. However much self-promoting egos at the Oxbridge debating unions like to kid themselves, taking Nick Griffin and his ilk apart in their privileged members’ clubs means little to the working class communities where the BNP are gaining a foothold compared to the legitimacy the BNP are able to gain from standing in settings occupied by world leaders and major public figures.

Perhaps the reach and appeal of programmes like Question Time do provide an opportunity to bring the BNP down, but I am not convinced that the Question Time format was a better choice than unleashing Paxman on Griffin to allow a forensic and brutal assessment of the bile of the BNP.

That Nick Griffin fancies another turn and the French fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen offers his own experience as evidence that this has been a breakthrough for the BNP should worry all good thinking people. We will have to wait and see whether last night’s Question Time has added to the anti-fascist effort, but by the time we find out it will be too late for Auntie to regret inviting the BNP into our living rooms.