Griffin gets mixed reviews

Residents of one of the biggest strongholds of the far-right British National Party were divided yesterday about the party leader's appearance on a flagship BBC show, but many felt the Labour government should do more about immigration.

"He couldn't give a straight answer," Tim Keane, a builder out walking his dog, said of BNP leader Nick Griffin's appearance on the BBC's Question Time. "Of course he was given a fair chance. He was given a simple question and couldn't answer."

But others felt Griffin had been unfairly treated on a programme in which the majority of the questions focused on the BNP, a party which opposes immigration and wants Britain to withdraw from the European Union.

Griffin described the panel and its studio audience as a lynch mob.

"I've never been a big lover of the BNP but at least Griffin should have had his say," said Bob Ricketts, a retiree. "They just ganged up on him."

Analysts said Griffin's appearance and the media frenzy around it would probably help the BNP, which has two seats from June's European parliamentary polls. It has no seats in the British Parliament.