I THOUGHT we lived in a democracy.

BBC Question Time proved anything but democratic.

David Dimbleby allowed Nick Griffin to be ambushed by hate–filled “ethnic groups” and allowed an incoherent Jack Straw to ramble on and on. The other panelists were also allowed to interrupt Griffin’s replies.

I really wanted to hear what this man had to say, to discover if he had any valid points, but he was not allowed. This was not democracy.

C Hudson, Byers Green.

AFTER witnessing the BBC’s Question Time programme, I feel the British National Party leader Nick Griffin, fought a wholly admirable and commendable ‘Rorkes Drift’ style defence against a clearly hostile panel and an uncontrolled biased audience.

Having once been a member of the Question Time audience myself, I know full well that the selection procedure is supposed to ensure representation from a large cross–section of society and the UK’s political spectrum in general.

This, I feel, certainly was not the case this week. How can the BBC defend this?

Andrew Fowler, Ferryhill.

FIRST of all, I am not a supporter of the BNP, but I was brought up to believe that, in a democratic country, every party had an equal right to voice its opinions and policies.

Why, I ask myself, are all the other parties running scared?

Could it be that the BNP is becoming a threat to the established parties?

After listening to all parties concerned, with promises of what they will do if elected, I’m sure the British public are mature enough and intelligent enough to decide which party they would prefer to govern the country.

It should be obvious that the BNP have not got the depth, knowledge and experience to form any sort of governing body.

But it is a party that never hides its policies with any kind of whitewash.

The only violent demonstrations that surround their meetings come from protestors and not from the BNP.

If we want a democratically elected government we must not be afraid to listen to all parties.

T Seale, Middlesbrough.

I DID not think that Nick Griffin achieved all he wanted to achieve in his debut appearance on BBC Question Time.

I was, however, struck by the fact that his party’s recent successes are likely to be due to the disaffection of working class people who, with every justification, no longer believe that the Labour Party represents their interests. There is a general concern about immigration, which is not necessarily racist in character, and it is too easily assumed that electors are happy with the constant expansion of the European Union.

I expect that the protest vote at the General Election will be something that might rid the main parties of their complacency and their cavalier contempt for ordinary people.

G Bulmer, Billingham.