FIONA Bruce has been accused of "attacking" RMT Secretary-General Mick Lynch during Thursday's Question Time.
Lynch was a member of the panel on the BBC show on Thursday which largely focused on this week's rail strikes.
RMT members across the country have been standing on picket lines over what the union calls "an aggressive agenda" of cuts to jobs, conditions, pay and pensions.
Lynch has subsequently become a well-known face on TV and has been widely admired for the way in which he has held politicians and journalists to account.
But many felt on Thursday night he was not allowed to have, as Labour MP Diane Abbott put it, a "fair say" as he was interrupted by Bruce on more than one occasion.
Abbott was tweeting throughout the show and also said the audience was "overwhelmingly Tory".
She said: "Watching Question Time with Mick Lynch. Audience overwhelmingly Tory. And Fiona Bruce is obviously determined that Mick Lynch will not have a fair say."
She added in another tweet: "20 minutes into Question Time. Fiona Bruce attacks Mick Lynch again. Obviously determined to do what no television presenter has been unable to do up until now and skewer Mick Lynch. Presumably she will get an honour for this."
Watching Question Time with Mick Lynch. Audience overwhelmingly Tory. And Fiona Bruce is obviously determined that Mick Lynch will not have a fair say pic.twitter.com/v9LrzoRCdd
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) June 23, 2022
Some also accused Bruce of not being impartial when at one point she said to Tory MP Rachel Maclean: "I’m going to say this for you Rachel since you’re quiet as a mouse".
A new report from Ofcom this week found that the public is unhappy about the BBC's impartiality and complaints process.
Complaints about the BBC are nearly twice as high than they are for any other broadcasters, the watchdog said.
Ofcom tracked audiences’ experiences and interactions with the BBC and found that one in nine people felt they had something to complain about. The SNP said it should be a "wake-up call" for the corporation.
One Twitter user, who said she was stood in a picket line on Thursday, said she had heard nothing but support for the strike but noticed the audience on Question Time "seem to be repeating the 'archaic', 'dinosaurs', 'holding the country to ransom" mantra from the Tory media script."
How is Fiona Bruce allowed to host Question Time. Could she be anymore of a Tory lover if she tried. She doesn't even try to hide it. Typical Tory Media Bias #bbcqt
— Russell Sergeant (@RussellSergeant) June 23, 2022
SNP MP Angus MacNeil said the show had become a "dire watch".
He said: "The biggest issue with modern Question Time is that it is essentially a dire watch - what has happened ??"
Weird...I stood at a central London picket line today and heard nothing but support for the @RMTunion strike from the people passing. Yet the audience of #questiontime seem to be repeating the "archaic" "dinosaurs" "holding the country to ransom"mantra from the Tory media script.
— Sadie McDonough (@Sadie_McDonough) June 23, 2022
Meanwhile, Lynch received plaudits for how he dealt with the onslaught of comments against the RMT's action.
On social media, people praised him for not dodging questions and being honest in his responses.
The thing about Mick Lynch: he just says it like it is. No dodging the question, no making stuff up. God it's refreshing! He doesn't need to be charismatic. Because truth is charismatic. I think it's time Labour took this route. People are sick of verbal fog.
— Mandoline 🐦 (@Mandoline_Blue) June 21, 2022
There have so far been two strikes held this week and one more walkout is still to come on Saturday.
Lynch has said more strikes beyond that are "extremely likely" if talks between rail bosses and unions continue to fail.
‘I’m going to say this for you Rachel since you’re quiet as a mouse’ says Fiona Bruce @bbcquestiontime #bbcqt IMPARTIAL?!!! Or the government spokesperson?! Get Victoria Derbyshire back on.
— Faye K 🇺🇦💙💛🇪🇺 (@FayeKamsika) June 23, 2022
The RMT - which represents 40,000 members from cleaners to train guards - is calling for a pay rise of at least 7% to offset the cost-of-living crisis, as inflation hits 9.1% and is forecast to reach 11% in the autumn.
The BBC said: "Question Time always selects its audiences to reflect recent voting trends and the current political picture of the nation it is broadcasting from. Those trends differ across the UK and we aim to reflect those differences.
"It is the chair’s job to robustly scrutinise all panellists on the programme each week."
