Protests as BNP leader Nick Griffin visits Hamilton

Oct 29 2009 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

THREE people were arrested yesterday (Wednesday) outside a Lanarkshire radio station where BNP leader Nick Griffin was taking part in a discussion programme.

Around a dozen protesters from Unite Against Fascism turned up at L107, off Bothwell Road, Hamilton, to express their opposition to the BNP and Mr Griffin’s appearance at the station.

Two police support unit vans were in attendance along with around a dozen officers.

The demonstrators had thrown eggs at Mr Griffin on his arrival at the radio station and waited outside while he was in the studio.

A man and a woman were arrested for egg throwing and another man, a BNP supporter, was arrested for turning up at the scene with a homemade swastika placard. Two were charged with breach of the peace, and one with racially-aggravated breach of the peace.

When Mr Griffin left in a silver Mercedes people carrier with blacked-out windows the demonstrators, chanting “Nazi scum, off our streets,” briefly stopped the vehicle before police cleared them away.

Lanarkshire L107 said Mr Griffin’s visit stemmed from a previous appearance of a BNP member on the station earlier this year to discuss the party’s offer of money to the Hamilton branch of Armed Services’ veterans’ charity FEBA.

L107 programme director Derek McIntyre explained that the BNP had offered the station an interview with their leader a few weeks ago.

He said the station insisted that any airtime was dependent on Mr Griffin being questioned by L107 listeners, a condition the BNP leader accepted.

The Unite Against Fascism demonstrators, however, said L107 had been irresponsible in giving Mr Griffin a platform. One protester said: “Whenever the BNP get any exposure, racist attacks go up. They are a racist and homophobic party whose views should not be given any credence.

“This is a man who has denied the holocaust, finds gay men creepy and thinks the Klu Klux Klan are amusing.”

Protester Jacqui Smith from Stonehouse said: “I find it abhorrent that L107 are giving a platform to such a destructive force. The radio station are using Griffin’s visit to boost their ratings, but they should think carefully about what they are doing.”

Mr McIntyre said yesterday the station followed up the BNP leader’s interview offer after his appearance on the BBC’s Question Time last week, but denied it was a bid for publicity.

“The BNP are an organisation that everybody is talking about,” he said. “These issues have to be aired and discussed. Our listeners and the public can then decide if they are right or wrong.

“In my view not giving them airtime is dangerous.

“That way they will paint themselves as victims and get public sympathy.”

To see a film of the BNP leaders’ visit to Hamilton, go to our website www.hamiltonadvertiser.co.uk