Question Time British National Party controversy
{'<entity_0>': 'Question Time British National Party controversy', '<entity_1>': 'BBC', '<entity_2>': 'British National Party', '<entity_3>': 'Television Centre', '<entity_4>': 'Nick Griffin', '<entity_5>': '01 October 2009', '<entity_6>': 'controversy'}
[['Question Time British National Party controversy', 'instance of', 'controversy'], ['Question Time British National Party controversy', 'participant', 'Nick Griffin'], ['Question Time British National Party controversy', 'participant', 'British National Party'], ['Question Time British National Party controversy', 'location', 'Television Centre'], ['Question Time British National Party controversy', 'end time', '01 October 2009'], ['Question Time British National Party controversy', 'participant', 'BBC']]
The <entity_0> occurred in the autumn of 2009, due to an invitation by the <entity_1> (<entity_1>) to <entity_4>, leader of the far-right <entity_2> (BNP), to be a panelist on Question Time, one of its flagship television programmes on current affairs. The possibility of an appearance on Question Time by <entity_4> was publicly announced by the <entity_1> in early September. On 21 October, the day before the broadcast, the <entity_1> Director-General, Mark Thompson, wrote an article for The Guardian entitled 'Keeping <entity_4> off air is a job for parliament, not the <entity_1>'. The <entity_1>'s chief political adviser, Ric Bailey, stated after the failed appeal that the <entity_1> "would have been breaking its charter if it had not treated the BNP with impartiality ... We absolutely stand by that judgement, even though there's obviously been a lot of <entity_6> about it". Andy Slaughter, a Labour MP whose constituency includes the <entity_3>, arrived to support the protests, scathingly attacking the <entity_1>'s "smugness", saying that local people on the estates were "utterly affronted". The decision by the <entity_1> to invite Griffin on to Question Time caused widespread <entity_6>. In an editorial on 15 <entity_5>, The Guardian said: "The BNP is no normal party – yet by inviting it on to Question Time, the <entity_1> runs the risk of normalising it". By mid-afternoon of the day of the programme, protesters had begun gathering outside <entity_3> and there were also protesters outside regional <entity_1> offices. Due to the various protests, <entity_3> and other <entity_1> buildings around the country were 'locked down' until the protesters had dispersed. The <entity_1> was subjected to criticism from some of its own staff, as Radio 4 broadcaster Sue MacGregor said that the show "gave the impression of attack dogs against <entity_4>", and another presenter called it a "bear pit".
['controversy']