ANGER AT BIAS ON BBC TV DEBATE
‘Most Left-wing audience’ boos when Corbyn faces a grilling
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 he had been unable to set out the cost of his flagship childcare 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 Conservative source attacked the BBC, saying it was ‘astonishing just how badly they picked the audience’. Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘There was an anti-Tory bias in the audience, which wasn’t there in the Channel 4 show on Monday.’
As the show went out, readers contacted the Daily Mail to express their objections.
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 debate with typically rigged audience by BBC’.
Even some Labour supporters and independent commentators voiced concern about the makeup of the audience. Robert Peston, political editor of ITV News, 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;
The Labour leader refused to rule out a ‘coalition of chaos’ deal with the SNP;
Mrs May prepared to warn voters they have just seven days to ensure the ‘promise of Brexit’ is not squandered by Mr Corbyn;
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 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.
When she urged the audience to ‘look at our record’, she was met with mocking laughter.
When the Home Secretary defended the Government’s record on jobs, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said: ‘That doesn’t pay nurses who need to go to food banks.’ The audience erupted into applause.
Mr Corbyn’s mention of a food bank also produced clapping and cheers from the audience. ‘Have you been to a food bank?’ he said after mentioning Miss Rudd.
SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson prompted applause for saying the debate on immigration ‘shames us all’.
Mr Corbyn attended the debate in pro-Remain Cambridge having previously ruled out taking part. But the U-turn seemed to have backfired as he faced tough questions on the economy, immigration and security.
The BBC said the audience had been scrupulously vetted, adding: ‘The BBC commissioned polling company ComRes to recruit an audience representative of the country demographically and politically.’