The BBC has faced accusations of political bias after Thursday's Question Time featured a panel criticised for lacking a pro-government voice to defend Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's position on the Lee Anderson Islamophobia row.
Host Fiona Bruce oversaw a discussion with Conservative peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Labour's David Lammy, Green MP Caroline Lucas, and columnist Tim Stanley. Viewers on social media condemned the line-up as overwhelmingly left-wing, with one describing it as 'like one of the circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno'.
Baroness Warsi, a former Conservative Party chairwoman, has been a vocal critic of her own party's handling of the Anderson affair, accusing Tory MPs of being 'dim' or 'divisive' for refusing to label the suspended MP's comments as Islamophobic. Tim Stanley, the sole panellist offering a defence of free speech concerns, acknowledged Anderson was wrong but argued the public has legitimate worries about criticising Islam.
A BBC spokesman defended the panel, stating: 'Question Time considers a wide range of panellists every week. It was clear from questions coming in from the audience that they want to discuss the pro-Palestinian marches and accusations of Islamophobia in Conservative ranks. We are really glad to have Conservative peer and first ever Muslim cabinet minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi on our panel.'
The controversy adds to ongoing debates about impartiality at the BBC, with some licence fee payers threatening to withhold payment in protest.
