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BNP LEADER TO SPEAK AT UNIVERSITY

BNP leader Nick Griffin is to speak at the Oxford Union

Saturday November 24,2007

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(26)

Hundreds of protesters are expected to gather at Oxford University after students voted to allow BNP leader Nick Griffin to speak at their union.

Controversial historian David Irving, who was jailed for Holocaust denial, has also been invited to the free speech event.

Their presence on the list of speakers had already prompted a series of high profile withdrawals from the platform, including Defence Secretary Des Browne.

Despite opposition, the Oxford Union Debating Society members voted by a margin of two-to-one to extend an invite to Mr Griffin.

Martin McCluskey, president of the Oxford Student Union, said it was "disgraceful" the pair were being given the same platform as past speakers who include Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama.

Sabby Dhalu, secretary of campaign group Unite Against Fascism, said: "If the event goes ahead as it stands, it does not even have the appearance of a 'debate'. Oxford Union will have to hold itself responsible for any subsequent repercussions on the threats to the safety of students if it proceeds with this decision."

Lee Jasper, secretary of the National Assembly Against Racism, added: "Oxford Union is jeopardising the safety of the students by continuing with this event. It is not too late to rescind these invites - Oxford Union gathers growing condemnation with every moment it continues being complicit with facilitating a meeting promoting fascism and Holocaust denial."

Defending its decision, the Oxford Union Debating Society said it was important to give people of all views a platform. Luke Tryl, president of the society, said: "They will be speaking in the context of a forum in which there will be other speakers to challenge and attack their views in a head to head manner."

Mr Griffin, who was convicted in 1998 for incitement to racial hatred for material denying the Holocaust, has repeatedly insisted the BNP is not a racist group.

Mr Irving has insisted he was not a Holocaust denier - despite spending three years in prison for the crime.

BNP LEADER TO SPEAK AT UNIVERSITY

28.11.07, 7:20am

Luke Tryle, and the majority of members of the debating society, do a service to Oxford its Debating Society and to the wider public, firstly by offering Oxford students an opportunity to hear for themselves the leader of a political party, reviled by the mainstream parties and largely silenced by the BBC and establishment media (surely an opportunity here for The Daily Express to offer an occasional platform to the British National Party and to be in the vanguard of a non-agressive nationalist movement that, despite every obstacle, is slowly taking shape?) secondly for standing firm (so far!) in the face of threats from the usual anti-racists thugs of United Against Fascism and the National Assembly Against Racism (note their respective and thinly veiled threats* of violence: S Dhalu: "Oxford Union will have to hold itself responsible for any subsequent repercussions on the threats to the safety of students if it proceeds with this decision." and the menacing Lee Jasper: "Oxford Union is jeopardising the safety of the students by continuing with this event. It is not too late to rescind these invites ..."); thirdly, by putting to the test the frequent, and increasingly hollow claims, that Britain is a 'free society' that we have 'freedom of speech' and all the rest of the platitudes that our political elite trot out to "lesser breeds without the PC lore" and lastly, by giving a lead to more timorous debating societies at other, (less exalted?) universities. Who knows, perhaps some of them will follow where Oxford leads?

* Note: since the thirties, the self styled anti-fascist/racists have had a well tried and very successful technique, for shutting down viewpoints, demonstrations, marches they oppose: they announce without directly threatening violence themselves, that there will or might be violence if the authorities don't take action to stop the event in question and that, if it goes ahead the authority (university in this case) will be liable for the repercussions. The authority, (local authority, university....), normally backs down- policing an event is expensive, there might be a court case if someone gets hurt etc.). Generally, if they have a view at all, the authorities are hostile to the viewpoint of who wish to challenge the establishment's orthodoxies and are happy enough to yield to the demands of the self-styled ant-fascists who, of course, while denouncing the fascists for 'violence' are implicitly threatening violence themselves... Incidentally, it goes without saying, that it doesn't work the other way around, if only because when the anti-fascists announce a march or other provocative event, those opposed to them cannot convincingly announce to the authorities (even if they wanted to) that eg 'The Oxford Union is jeopardising the safety of the students by continuing with this event ' because the authority in question is perfectly well aware that the opposition has no thugs available with which to disrupt the event! It is because the ant-fascists/racist always have a reservoir of thugs on call that their technique is so successful!!

• Posted by: Adrian01 • Report Comment

BNP LEADER SPEECH AT UNIVERSITY

26.11.07, 2:33pm

At this moment in time we have freedom, as long as we do and think, as we are told. We have become the under dog in our own land and it will get worse. What we are experiencing now are mere birth pangs.

• Posted by: fireowl • Report Comment

YAWN. TREVOR PHILLIPS

26.11.07, 1:27pm

I see Trevor Phillips, Commission for Racial Equality godfather, has waded into the debate.

He says that people in this country have died defending free speech.

Yes, thousands died in WWII so that Hitler wouldn’t take our free speech away from us.

And now we have Mr. Philips, a jumped up little Hitler, trying to take away our free speech again.

Just what is it about the term "FREE speech" that these morons don't understand?

• Posted by: CharlesTree • Report Comment

ON THE ONE SIDE....

25.11.07, 10:31pm

..... we have the Union Debating Society and Nick Griffin, upholding our tradition of free speech.

On the other we have Labours Des Browne, Communist Lee Jasper and the UAF who will try everything in their power, including threats of violence, to prevent people having the opportunity to make their own minds up.

Which do you prefer? When will the Express give the BNP a fair platform?

• Posted by: Mikeemike • Report Comment

USER BANNED

25.11.07, 7:39pm

*** USER BANNED FOR PROMOTING A POLITICAL PARTY AND LINKING TO AN UNAUTHORISED WEBSITE ***

• Posted by: fireowl • Report Comment

BNP LEADER TO SPEAK AT UNIVERSITY

25.11.07, 5:34pm

Rather than protesting against Nick..or anybody.. entering a debate at Oxford University, those objectors.. "United Against Fascism" and whoever else has tried to stop this debate, should all grow up, exercise a little integrity, and try to UPHOLD the democratic principles that they claim to be fighting for, and that they should allow us ALL free speech. They seem to think they have a God-given right to stop people from imparting views that are at cross-purposes with their own. I find it quite ironic that the subject to be debated IS free speech.

As long as a speaker does not exhort others to commit crime, as far as I am concerned, they can say what the heck they like in a public forum. We may not like it, but how on earth can we have a balanced political debate in this country when one group of people tries to gag another. Now THAT sounds like fascism being practised by the so-called Anti-Fascists! What are the UAF (who I find the REALLY scary bunch) afraid of? Surely by letting Griffin, the leader of a legal British political party, speak, will simply show the BNP in their true colours...

I have visited the UAF web pages, and, after looking at their message-boards, I now know who the real anti-democratic, knuckle-dragging hate-and trouble-makers are... I also had a look at the Times interview link on Griffin, when I found it, and this must-see makes me want to vote BNP for the first time in my life. Even my father, a died-in-the-wool Tory, who is heavily involved in his local party, has told senior figures that they need to take a more BNP orientated stance on the EU, Iraq, energy policy, self sufficiency, and immigration, if they really want to win the next round of elections, before it is too late. That was a very brave stance to take, but, amazingly, he got a standing ovation for it.

The best of luck to Nick and all other participants.

Here's also hoping that the thinly cloaked threats of violence by the UAFwill be taken seriously by the police and that any trouble-makers on the day will be taken care of straightaway.

• Posted by: NoisySiamese • Report Comment