A man who voiced an opinion on Question Time has prompted outrage and accusations of BBC bias from people who have a different opinion.
During the show’s weekly Brexit-related shouting match a gentlemen in the audience said he was “a little bit sick of Labour and the far-left just constantly criticising” the Government.
He added: “Can I just say, it’s really easy to sit by the wayside and criticise when you’re not actually at the table yourself.”
Labour supporters and those on the far-left were incensed.
Labour-supporting and far-left blog site, Evolve Politics, even offered a reward for information on the man.
But were forced backtrack when people suggested this amounted to doxxing.
Although the gentlemen’s comments did essentially amount to criticising the Opposition for opposing the Government...
... accusations of another Question Time/BBC Tory bias scandal swirled on social media, ignoring the fact numerous other audience members with non-stereotypical accents commented on a variety of issues, including pro-Remain views on Brexit.
Accusations of “Tory plants” on Question Time are as regular as the show itself. The BBC has previously explained how it chooses audiences to ensure those in attendance are representative of both the UK and local constituencies.
A spokesperson told The Huffington Post UK: “The Question Time audience is always chosen by a team to ensure broad political balance and each application goes through the same rigorous background checks.”
Although Newcastle is a Labour stronghold, the Tories received almost 25% of the votes in the 2015 General Election
And in the Brexit vote Newcastle voted Remain although by a very narrow margin of one per cent (all other constituencies in the North-East voted Leave).
So it is therefore not in the realm of impossibility that a Tory supporting Brexit voter is representative of a significant number of people in Newcastle.