Got an email first thing this morning from PR Week asking for comment on the BNP/Question Time issue (nice to see they remembered my last contribution to the debate on how to deal with them).
With representatives elected at a national election, I guess there was a sad inevitability that the BNP will be given the right to appear on mainstream political shows - interestingly the BBC have reversed a previous policy.
However, the uncertainty around the handling of their potential appearance on Question Time shows that it still hasn't been decided by other politicians and the media how best to deal with the party.
Politicians shouldn't be afraid of debate - but there is a concern that they will allow themselves to be distracted by the BNP's presence or simply try to rubbish their arguments with rhetoric rather than highlighting the very serious consequences of their policies. A clear strategy for tackling the threat needs to be decided and implemented - across the political spectrum.
Commenting in the article also made me question who is best placed to lead this national strategy... it probably isn't politicians.
