BBC Question Time host Fiona Bruce made yet another major slip-up on last night’s show. In an embarrassing attempt to defend Labour, Bruce wrongly claimed that their manifesto didn’t use the phrase “working people” in reference to national insurance. Has she managed to miss all the headlines this week?
The blunder was broadcast live on iPlayer at 8pm, and soon after, the official BBCQT account rushed to clean up the mess, scrubbing the part where Bruce tried to justify Labour’s expected tax rise. In a post on X, they sheepishly admitted:
On the live iPlayer version of Question Time tonight, we said that in their 2024 General Election manifesto, Labour didn’t mention the phrase ‘working people’ in relation to raising National Insurance. We are happy to clarify that they did and accordingly we have taken it out of…
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) October 17, 2024
The ‘fact-checker’ getting fact-checked – and not for the first time…
The BBC never fails to entertain with their so-called ‘fact-checking.’ Last night’s Question Time saw Reform Party chairman Zia Yusuf call out the staggering number of asylum seekers flooding into Britain after it emerged that the Foreign Office has splashed over £4 billion on support for refugees and asylum seekers. Zia rightly pointed out that the UK takes in more asylum seekers per capita than France. ‘Moderator’ Fiona Bruce was quick to shut him down:
“France takes more per capita, we are quite far down the list.”
Cue an awkward fact-check of her own fact-check. Not long after, Bruce admitted Zia was actually “right” before hastily moving on. No apology, of course. Doubt BBC Verify were the ones to tell her she was wrong…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”