BNP supporters in Question Time audience
BNP supporters among audience members for tomorrow's edition of BBC1's Question Time, hosted by David Dimbleby
Wednesday, 21, Oct 2009 10:41
By Matthew Champion.
The audience for tomorrow's controversial appearance of the British National party on BBC1's Question Time will include supporters of the far-right party.
BNP chairman Nick Griffin will become the first far-right politician to appear on the Question Time panel on Thursday.
Cabinet minister Peter Hain has already called on the programme to be cancelled over the illegitimacy of the BNP after Mr Griffin accepted a challenge from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to change his party's membership criteria which currently bans non-whites from joining.
The BBC has rejected the Welsh secretary's complaints, however, with tomorrow's programme going ahead as planned.
It has emerged however that several BNP supporters are likely to feature in the audience.
The corporation is reportedly keen to avoid a repeat of scenes at the Question Time edition on September 13th 2001, two days after the world's worst terrorist atrocity.
More than 600 complaints were made and the US ambassador to the UK Philip Lader received a personal apology from then director general Greg Dyke after he was inundated with verbal abuse from the audience over American foreign policy.
Tomorrow's Question Time, due to take place at BBC Television Centre in west London, will be filmed in the afternoon to allow the programme to be heavily-edited before being broadcast later that evening.
Journalists have been banned from watching filming of the programme, which is usually pre-recorded.
Television Centre is expected to be inundated with protestors from the Unite Against Fascism group, which aims to prevent Mr Griffin from gaining access to the recording studio.