IF you tuned in to BBC Question Time on Thursday, you’d be forgiven for thinking there wasn’t much happening in UK politics.
What other possible reason could there be for Fiona Bruce and co to have spent a quarter of the entire show discussing whether God saved Donald Trump to save the world.
That is a genuine question which was posed on BBC Question Time: “Did God save Donald Trump to save the world?”
The producers of the BBC show obviously thought that was more pressing than the upcoming Commons vote on compensation for Waspi women – or the growing pressure on Labour to change the devolution-shattering Internal Market Act.
The choice of question hasn’t gone down too well online, with commentator Aaron Bastani quipping: “If we didn’t have the BBC it would be impossible to have a sensible, rational debate – relevant to the needs of the British public.”
If we didn’t have the BBC it would be impossible to have a sensible, rational debate - relevant to the needs of the British public. pic.twitter.com/F3jrBHtgOM
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) January 23, 2025
Journalist Josh White added: “The BBC making the case against itself stronger with every broadcast.”
A third user asked if the BBC had “lost its f***ing mind”, branding it an “absurd question”.
At least those in the studio didn’t seem to take it too seriously, laughing as the question was first posed by an audience member.
It also presented an opportunity to talk about Trump – whose inauguration was undoubtedly one of the biggest politics stories in the world this week.
Former Tory MP Matthew Parris had some choice words about the new US president.
“Claiming that God has saved your life on Martin Luther King day, when God did not save Martin Luther King’s life, is just …” he said, unable to even finish the sentence.
But then he decided that actually Trump has some good policies after all.
“As a man who tends to divide people, who tends to set people at each other’s throats, who tends to insult people and tends to overstate, I don’t think he will achieve even his own goals – some of which are quite good goals,” he said.
“There’s quite a bit of Trumpism that’s right, but Trump is not the man to achieve most of Trumpism’s goals.”
Interesting take …
