BBC Question Time returns tonight with a panel set to discuss the UK’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and more.
Fiona Bruce will one again return to the host seat to chair and lead the panel through the hottest talking points in politics on the BBC's flagship political show
With the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the latest quarantine rules in both England and Scotland, there are a number of items for the panel to discuss.
Here’s who is on and the show and what viewers can expect.
Mark Harper
The Conservative MP will be the Government’s representative on the BBC Question Time panel. The MP for Forest of Dean has been in office since 2006 and is currently the Chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of MPs. The group are campaigning for an early end to the lockdown in England, with Harper recently making headlines by telling a BBC podcast that the rest of the population are being held back by those opting to not get a vaccine. He also signed and organised a letter to the Prime Minister calling for the easing of restrictions in England from March. The letter was organised by the CRG chair and deputy chair, Mark Harper and Steve Baker, and was said to have the backing of 63 Conservative MPs in all.
Harper devised the controversial "Go Home" vans aimed at illegal immigrants and ran for Tory leader after Theresa May.
Harper has also called for schools to be reopened before teachers are vaccinated. In his time as MP, Harper has consistently voted for a reduction in spending on welfare benefits and has occasionally rebelled against their party in Parliament.
Tomorrow on the Question Time panel, we have @Mark_J_Harper, @NadiaWhittomeMP, @LaylaMoran, @LindaBauld and @PeterBorgNeal. Join us at 10:45pm on @BBCOne. #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/sPTHNpjiYX
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) February 17, 2021
READ MORE: Tory MPs call for Parliament to be recalled after changes to Covid-19 rules
Nadia Whittome
The youngest MP in the House of Commons will represent Labour on the BBC Question Time panel and will likely clash with Harper over a number of issues. The former care worker is the MP for Nottingham East and has represented the constituency since 2019. Whittome made headlines as she told The Independent the abuse she has suffered as an MP saying:“I’ve had death threats,” Ms Whittome says. “I don’t look at my social media comments. It is a bit irritating so much time from my staff team has to go into archiving hate mail and abuse.”
The MP has been vocal in her backing of free school meals in England. In October 2020 she attacked the Conservatives making headlines after she tweeted: “I don’t know how the 322 Tory MPs are sleeping tonight. Because I can’t, knowing that 1.4 million children will go hungry this Christmas.”
She also made headlines after she said she was sacked from her junior role after voting against a new law making it harder for military veterans to be prosecuted for past actions.
Layla Moran
The MP for Oxford West and Abingdon will be representing the Liberal Democrats on the panel tonight. The backbencher has been an MP since 2017 and is the Lib Dem spokeswoman on Foreign Affairs and International Development. She ran for the party leadership in 2019.
Moran also made headlines this year after suggesting frontline workers living with long Covid should have access to a compensation scheme if they are unable to return to work and has been vocal about more being done to support those struggling with mental health as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said: “Long Covid affects young as well as old and the numbers are staggering. It is believed that there are 300,000 people living with long Covid already in the UK, seven million worldwide.”
Professor Linda Bauld
Professor Linda Bauld of the University of Edinburgh will be the medical expert on the panel tonight.The professor of public health has featured on a number of media platforms during the pandemic and is an adviser to the Scotish Parliament’s Covid-19 committee.
She has previously said quarantine hotels are “absolutely essential” and suggested the lack of quarantine measures earlier in the pandemic had been “a major factor” in contributing to the current situation.
This week she said that the new travel laws presented some issues and that work was being done to identify them. Scotland’s new travel laws were introduced on Monday, meaning that anyone entering the country is expected to undertake a 10-day quarantine period in ‘managed isolation’. However, an investigation was launched after US travellers were mistakenly made to quarantine in a hotel despite a loophole in the rules.
“Clearly everybody listening will realise that it doesn’t make sense. While I have huge sympathy for this family, just to emphasise, the fact that they’ve stopped for a few hours in Dublin means that the rules don’t apply, that doesn’t make sense to me from a public health perspective.”
Bauld was also vocal against the idea of Boris Johnson’s Christmas rules saying at the time that the easing was a “bad idea” and that people needed to be “incredibly cautious”.
Peter Borg-Neal
Rounding off the panel is Peter Born-Neal, the founder and CEO of Oakman Inns. The businessman will be on the panel to offer insight into businesses across the UK, with Borg-Neal running 28 pubns across England with over 1,000 members of staff. The former director of the National Autistic Society was vocal over the handling of pub closures in England and challenged Matt Hancock in September last year to prove that a spike in Covid cases came from pubs and restaurants.
BBC Question Time airs at 10:45pm on BBC One.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel