BBC Question Time’s host Fiona Bruce has called for more unvaccinated members of the public to go on the show.
The programme, which airs on Thursdays, is based in a different place in the UK every week so that a range of people get the opportunity to ask the panel questions.
Addressing the camera directly, Bruce said: “I mentioned last week that we are looking for people to come and be part of our audience who are unvaccinated.
“We know that there’s a relatively higher proportion in London and there are many different reasons people choose not to get vaccinated.”
“I think it’s an important debate,” she added.
Approximately 71.5% of the UK population is fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data.
Fiona Bruce just pleaded for unvaccinated people to be in the audience for next week's #BBCQT.
I'll just leave that there.
— Iain Dale(@IainDale) January 20, 2022
Bruce’s words came around two weeks after the government issued a strongly worded warning about anti-vaxxers.
No.10′s spokesman said: “They are putting themselves at risk and they’re putting others at risk as well.
“I think it’s important, as Professor Whitty has said before, there is a balance to be struck between not giving oxygen to those anti-vaxxers who thrive on the attention.
“But it is important to note that those individuals that are refusing to get vaccinated, they [are] putting themselves at risk and we have the hard data to back that up and they’re putting others at risk as well.
“So the approach we are taking in this country is to provide reassurance and answer questions for those that have genuine concerns, those that might be hesitant, and we’ve been largely successful in that approach.
“That’s indeed why we have among the highest levels of vaccine enthusiasm of any country in the world.”
Prime minister has also accused anti-vaxxers of speaking “mumbo jumbo” over Covid jabs.
But the BBC has caused a stir in its latest attempts to maintain impartial in recent months, especially after it announced it would even give a platform to flat-Earth conspiracy theorists in the name of free speech.
The BBC’s director of editorial policy and standards David Jordan said earlier this month: “Flat-earthers are not going to get as much space as people who believe that the Earth is round, but very occasionally it might be appropriate to interview a flat-earther and if a lot of people believed in a flat Earth, [then] we would need to address it more than we do at the present time.”
He added that the BBC would be prepared to cause upset among staff and audiences to showcase a range of views.
