David Dimbleby kicked out a rowdy heckler on last night’s BBC Question Time in Plymouth, in what the programme’s twitter feed has described as “Quexit”.
The man who has been named by Mail Online said: “Jeremy Corbyn has proven that anti-austerity policies are popular – the Tories and the Blairites lost that election”.
However as the discussion progressed, the audience member continued to shout “tax the rich” over David Lidlington, the new justice secretary. Lidlington was defending the Government policy on corporation tax and became visibly annoyed.
Dimbleby, who has hosted Question Time since 1994, was forced to intervene: “I know you have your views. You’re one person in an audience of 150, I don’t want you taking over this programme. He’s speaking, let him speak.”
This was met with applause. However, as panelist Gina Miller begun to speak, the heckler continued to shout. After Miller said: “The Conservative Government won [the General Election]”, the audience member continued to heckle, accusing Miller of being a Tory. Dimbleby, 78, had had enough. “Listen, I think you ought to leave,” he said.
This was greeted with even loader cheering and some members of the audience stood to applaud. Before security staff could remove the man, the heckler left of his own accord.
The panel also included Peter Oborne, the Daily Mail columnist.
Oborne was forced to defend the paper’s reputation. He stated it was “extremely accurate and fair” and was read by “honourable, decent people” before adding “it’s a great newspaper, it doesn’t tell lies” which was met with laughter and derision from some members of the audience.
When David Dimbleby tells you to go, YOU GO. #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/8Dv1Gauw3I
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) June 22, 2017
Peter Oborne says that the Daily Mail is an extremely accurate and fair paper and does not tell lies #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/CuHdfDXBJw
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) June 22, 2017
Oborne was responding to an audience member who claimed that the Mail had printed lies during the EU referendum campaign.