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…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”
