VIEWERS have been left fuming with the choice of guests to appear on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show.
This comes following a report in The Sunday Times that BBC chair Richard Sharp helped former PM Boris Johnson guarantee a loan of up to £800,000 weeks before he was recommended for the job.
One of the guests to appear on Kuenssberg’s show was the former prime minister’s sister Rachel Johnson.
She was alongside former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and the boss of Tesco John Allan.
And what kind of panel is this!? The loathesome IDS, an oleaginous Tesco boss, Boris Johnson’s sister. It’s like the Establishment, as it was satirised in the 60s, is utterly back in charge. Scotland, let’s get #outtahere 🏴🚀 pic.twitter.com/WCY7bdvacn
— Pat Kane (@thoughtland) January 22, 2023
One viewer commented on social media: “Duncan Smith and Rachel Johnson in to discuss the Tories. The BBC could at least try and move away from being biased!”
Exclusive polling for the Sunday National revealed that the majority of Scotland does not think the broadcaster has done a good job of reporting on the impacts of Brexit.
Regarding the panellists, another user said: “After James Cleverly #BBCLauraK turns to Iain Duncan Smith “what do you think?” Then Boris Johnson’s sister never seen such bo*****s.”
Another commented: “Who picked this panel? You might as well have had the Chuckle Brothers on.”
“So the ‘objective panel’ on this utter s***show is Iain Duncan Smith, Rachel Johnson and for some reason the chairman of Tesco? Is Richard Sharp actually choosing the guests?”, added another.
Topics discussed on the panel included the recent allegations against Johnson and Sharp as well as Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs and the cost of living.
One Twitter user said: “On a day where there are important and worrying questions to be asked about the independence and impartiality of the BBC, it is hardly reassuring that the panel on the Laura Kuenssberg programme consisted of Ian Duncan Smith, Rachel Johnson and the chief executive of Tesco!”
.@JohntNeal Can we talk about this morning’s panel on #bbclaurak ? What are your criteria for “balance” on a morning where one of the main stories featured a panellist’s brother and the suitability of BBC chair was in question? Was no one left of centre available?
— Julia Raeside 💙 (@JNRaeside) January 22, 2023
Somebody else said they had lodged a complaint about the panel while another described the choice of guests as a “disgrace”.
One user also questioned why there was “absolutely no representation from the left on the Laura Kuenssberg show panel?”
