Question Time host Fiona Bruce was left in stunned silence after one bold guest hit out at politicians on the show.
During Thursday’s instalment (February 13) of the BBC politics evening show, the 60-year-old broadcaster returned to the helm which was hosted in Northwich, Cheshire.
The TV presenter welcomed education minister Jacqui Smith from the government, shadow work and pensions minister Danny Kruger MP from the Conservatives, home affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart MP from the Liberal Democrats.
Also joining them on the panel was writer and activist George Monbiout and writer Matthew Goodwin, who writes and commentates on populism and liberal democracy. Throughout the show, audience members are encouraged to ask their burning questions to politicians, and this week was no exception.
The flagship politics show soon got off to a rocky start when one guest argued that politicians “live on a different planet”. Loyal viewer and guest Tracey asked the panel whether they thought more business people should be invited into parliament to help make some of the country’s biggest decisions.
She asked: “With Donald Trump and Elon Musk getting things sorted in America, do you think Labour would benefit from more business people in government positions?”
Fiona immediately pondered over the intriguing question, stating: “Alright, Donald Trump again, my goodness. His name gets mentioned every day. Tracey, what do you think? You’re basically saying that as far as you’re concerned, they’re getting things done. Could we benefit from that here?”
It was at this point that the viewer insisted that she “doesn’t agree” with everything that the President has done during his time in office, but emphasised that the US has made great strides when he has been the leader of the country.
She explained: “I don’t agree on lots of things that he’s doing, but he’s just doing things whereas over here, nothing gets done, it takes forever to do anything.
“At least people are making a decision, these politicians, they’re all at university, don’t seem to know what they’re doing. Everyday people seem to be able to make better decisions, or seem to know what the country needs because they’re [politicians] living on a different planet”.
It didn’t take long before fans flooded to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their thoughts on her controversial question online. One user argued: “Let’s see what Trump actually gets done. Popularists are great at promising all sorts. Now, doing things? Nah.”
Another pointed out: “Is she aware that Musk is ‘getting things done’ by overriding the US Constitution, grabbing power in an apparent coup and destroying the infrastructure of the US Federal Government while lining his own pockets? Yeah, no thanks.”
A third echoed: “Running a country like a business does not work. While you need to be business-like, there are many aspects of the govt which are counter-business ethos (even good business ethos). Like social and health care, education etc.”
Meanwhile, one user agreed: “She’s right. Get a businessman in to audit the NHS, stop buying paracetamol at £19 a box and all the other billions wasted. Get a tech guy to organise metal detectors at all schools, stop knives in school, put a builder in to fix the potholes etc, etc, etc.”
