FURY AT BIAS ON BBC TV DEBATE

TV chiefs under fire over ‘the most Left-wing audience ever’

THE BBC was last night accused by a prominent Labour supporter of picking ‘the most Left-wing’ election debate audience ever.

Senior Tories reacted furiously after the supposedly ‘ balanced’ group jeered criticism of Jeremy Corbyn on the programme.

Even BBC presenter Mishal Husain was heckled when she pointed out that he had been unable to set out the cost of his flagship child care policy the previous day. The Labour leader was repeatedly cheered despite a meandering performance in which he was accused of treating taxpayers’ cash like ‘Monopoly money’.

George Eaton, political editor of the Labour- supporting New Statesman magazine, said: ‘This feels like the most left-wing audience in any TV debate.’

A senior Conservative source

attacked the BBC saying it was ‘quite astonishing just how badly they picked the audience’. Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘Obviously there are questions for the BBC to answer … It’s quite clear there was an anti-Tory bias in the audience, which wasn’t there in the Channel 4 programme on Monday.’

As the show went out, readers contacted the Daily Mail to express their objections.

And Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames said the reaction of the audience vindicated Theresa May’s decision to delegate the debate to Home Secretary Amber rudd.

He said the Prime Minister was ‘absolutely right not to attend a debate with a typically rigged audience by the BBC’.

Even some Labour supporters and independent commentators voiced concern about the make-up of the audience.

robert Peston, ITV News’s political editor, said it was ‘odd that this “balanced” BBC audience is clearly much keener on immigration than much of UK’. The row came as:

Mr Corbyn was accused of ‘fantasy economics’ over plans to hit wealthier families with a wealth tax and inheritance tax raid;

Senior Labour figures suggested they intended to rip up trade union laws with a plan to bring back flying pickets;

The pound fell after a shock analysis found Mrs May could be on course for a hung parliament;

The PM prepared to warn voters they have just seven days to ensure the ‘promise of Brexit’ is not squandered by Mr Corbyn;

The Labour leader refused to rule out a ‘coalition of chaos’ deal with the SNP.

The row over the BBC audience overshadowed the debate in which Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP and the Green Party repeatedly teamed up against Miss rudd.

Presenter Miss Husain stated at the beginning of the programme that the audience had been selected to be ‘representative of the country as a whole’.

When the Home Secretary urged the audience to ‘look at our record’, she was met with mocking laughter. As Miss rudd defended the Government’s record on creating jobs, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said: ‘That doesn’t pay nurses who need to go to foodbanks.’ The audience erupted into applause at the interruption.

Mr Corbyn’s mention of a foodbank produced clapping and cheers. ‘Have you been to a foodbank, have you seen people sleeping rough?’ he said after mentioning Miss rudd. He was also cheered loudly after discussing his policy to scrap tuition fees.

The SNP’s Angus robertson prompted applause for saying the debate on immigration ‘shames us all’ adding that migrants make a positive contribution to the country. Miss Lucas was clapped when she said migration should not be blamed for strained public services.

Mr Corbyn had ruled out taking part but yesterday decided to attend to turn up the heat on Mrs May. His U-turn appeared to backfire as he faced tough questions on the economy, immigration and security.

The debate was held in Cambridge, one of the most pro-remain parts of the country.

The BBC said in a statement that it ‘commissioned polling company Comres to recruit an audience that is representative of the country demographically and politically. They have lots of experience doing this.

‘This covered age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomics, party politics, how they voted in the EU referendum, and some undecided.’

But Philip Davies, Tory candidate for Shipley, said: ‘you only have to watch Question Time to realise the BBC’s idea of an impartial audience is 80 per cent Labour supporters. This is what we have come to expect from political BBC programmes.’

Andrew Bridgen, Conservative candidate for North-West Leicestershire, said: ‘Who would be surprised by another handpicked Left-wing audience? Jeremy Corbyn won’t be short of votes in the BBC.’

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall, who was repeatedly heckled, wrote on Twitter: ‘Enjoyed tonight’s debate – particularly having the chance to speak to [hard-Left group] Momentum … sorry I meant the audience.’