I sympathise with the Palace, who were put in a tight position by Nick Griffin’s
attendance at a Garden Party in his capacity as an MEP. But he should not have been
barred unless he had broken the law or was gratuitously offensive, which he has not been on this occasion.
Griffin’s attendance at anything always becomes a party political matter, such is the loathing felt for him and his politics, and his ability to use that loathing to his advantage. So,
the leader of the BNP appears on GMTV this morning, telling all of his pride at being an MEP and his invitation to Buckingham Palace. The Palace defines that as an attempt to ‘blatantly
politicise attendance’. Griffin is far too subtle an operator for anything so obvious. Through nauseating insouciance, he goads his opponents to politicise him. Garden Parties are a
non-event, yet the centre-left press has heralded ‘a dark day at the Palace as Griffin rides in’.
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