The BBC has been slammed for political bias after Question Time failed to put up a single pro-Government spokesman to defend Rishi Sunak
The flagship politics show hosted by Fiona Bruce saw Conservative peer Sayeeda Warsi, Labour’s David Lammy, the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas and columnist Tim Stanley debate this week’s main topic of Lee Anderson and Islamophobia, another other news items.
However Baroness Warsi, David Cameron’s former party chairwoman, is a notable Government critic and blasted Tory MPs as either “dim” or “divisive” for refusing to accuse Mr Anderson of anti-Muslim remarks.
Mr Stanley, while not on the government payroll, tried to provide a fairer defence of the Government’s reluctance to close down free speech and free debate over the ‘Islamophobia’ row, however an official pro-Lee Anderson voice was notably lacking.
The panel selection has sparked accusations of political bias by the BBC on social media, with viewers blasting the left-wing line-up.
One Twitter user fumed: “Jesus wept…What a line up this is tonight”.
“Only missing Jeremy Corbyn and Dale Vince to make it a panel of Far left morons.”
Another quipped: “There was a time I used to really enjoy Question Time. This is like one of the circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno”.
A third user voiced commiserations for Mr Stanley being put up against the left-wing trio of Warsi, Lammy and Lucas, posting: “Look at this mob on tonight. Tim Stanley drew the short straw this week”.
A fourth said: “Left wing bias on BBC question time, what a surprise, and people moan about GB news for being far right. Stuff your licence fee, I will never pay it”.
Mr Stanley, the only sympathetic voice on the panel towards protecting the freedom to criticise extremist Islamists, argued that Lee Anderson was wrong, however many of the public have legitimate concerns.
He opined: “This is such a tricky issue – I feel myself being cancelled before I begin to speak”.
“What Lee Anderson said was just wrong. It was stupid and thick. The accusation that Sadiq Khan is controlled by Islamists is absurd…
“But I think what the Tories are trying to do is put their finger on a phenomenon which they themselves are struggling to define because it’s very vague.
“I think if Lee Anderson were here right now, picking up on your point about political nastiness, David [Lammy], he would say that he was responding to what he regards as the nastiness of certain protests and political pressure being put upon MPs. He would say there are plenty of Jewish Londoners who right now don’t feel happy or safe within London because of the ongoing protests.”
Mr Stanley vocalised concerns about the right to free speech in the face of extremist Islamists, arguing that many feel it’s much easier to criticise Christianity than Islam.
Baroness Warsi accused him of having a “fundamentally flawed” understanding of Islam.
The BBC was approached for comment.