British National Party leader Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time wil expose his “unacceptable” views, Gordon Brown said.
The Prime Minister said the decision to invite Mr Griffin, who was elected as an MEP earlier this year, on to the show was a matter for the BBC and he did not want to interfere with it.
But he described the party as “racist and bigoted,” and urged anyone tempted to cast a protest vote against the mainstream parties not to turn to the BNP.
Speaking on Real Radio in Yorkshire before the recording of today’s episode of Question Time, Mr Brown said: “If on Question Time, they are asked about their racist and bigoted views that are damaging to good community relations, it will be a good opportunity to expose what they are about.
“In a recession, people are tempted to vote against their traditional voting patterns like voting Labour, which we regret. But I want to persuade people that voting for the BNP is not the right thing to do.”
Mr Brown also defended the decision to allow Justice Secretary Jack Straw to appear on the show alongside Mr Griffin, in contrast with Labour’s previous refusal to share a platform with the BNP.
He said: “The issue is: should we have someone there? Jack Straw is a very experienced person who has had to deal with the BNP and their awful politics over a period of time.
“At every point, I believe we have got a duty to expose the BNP for what are racist and sectarian politics.”
Last week, the BNP was ordered by the courts to change its membership rules, which only allowed “indigenously Caucasian” people to join, said Mr Brown.
He said: “For a political party to exclude people on the grounds of race is completely unacceptable.
“Their views about mixed marriages and everything else are unacceptable for the modern world.”
In a message to voters considering a protest vote in the forthcoming general election, Mr Brown asked: “Do you really want to vote for, support or give succour to a party that wanted to exclude people from their party on the grounds of race and colour in the way that they did for many years?
“Do you want to support a party that has some of the most bigoted views in our country?”
The Telegraph