The BBC has sent a letter to all Scottish MPs and MSPs amid the ongoing row over last week's Question Time in Motherwell.
The letter was issued after a former UKIP candidate Billy Mitchell appeared on the popular politics show on Thursday night when it aired from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire.
Mitchell claimed that he was invited by the show's producer to appear in the unionist-heavy audience in Motherwell last week, in part to make up a shortage of conservative speakers.
READ MORE: Half of Herald readers refuse to watch Question Time, poll reveals
A Herald poll of over 1,000 readers found that over half would refuse to watch BBC Question Time following the show in Motherwell.
In an emailed letter seen by The National, Ian Small, BBC Scotland's head of public policy & corporate affairs addressed the criticism.
The letter in full:
Dear all,
Following concerns expressed about the recent edition of BBC Question Time (7 February) and also the repeated appearance of an audience member, I thought you would be interested in some further information. The programme included a range of opinions and the discussions were, as always, lively and robust.
Audience selection
The audience in Motherwell was selected in line with our guidelines to reflect support for various political parties and viewpoints.
Our procedures for audience selection are thorough and we make every effort to prevent people from appearing more than once. We ask applicants if they have been on the programme before, but of course, rely on people providing accurate information.
We are aware there have been questions surrounding one member of the audience in last week’s programme. When selecting audiences we take the information they provide in good faith, as you would expect. On previous occasions, the individual concerned has not provided accurate information to the programme and that is the reason they were able to appear on the programme again. We will continue to keep our processes under review and make every effort to make sure we get the best possible audience for each programme. Our primary concern is to balance the audience.
READ MORE: Question Time row: BBC 'reject accusations' of bias after backlash over UKIP candidate
The programme does not, of course, approach audience members and invite them to appear, as has also been alleged in some quarters, but will often contact audience members to provide further verification, again relying on the veracity of the information provided.
Accusations of ‘secret editing’
There was no ‘secret editing’ as has been claimed in some media outlets and on social media of what the Cabinet Secretary, Fiona Hyslop MSP said. Immediately following the Cabinet Secretary’s full response to a question from an audience member, the audience member interjected and made a comment that could not be broadcast for legal reasons. Ms Hyslop attempted to intervene on the comment being made, and the two or three words she uttered were made at the same time that Mr Mitchell was speaking. This resulted in both briefly speaking over each other, at which point the Chair stopped the interchange and moved to a new topic and another audience question. We believe this was the only responsible thing to do in the circumstances. In any case, Ms Hyslop’s response to the audience member on the issue of independence was broadcast in full.
READ MORE: Failed UKIP candidate claims he was personally invited on to BBC Question Time
Please let me assure you that Question Time takes very seriously the issue of balance on our panels and in the audience. We review and discuss the make-up of every panel and go to great lengths to reflect a broad spectrum of opinion in our audiences, and we will continue to do so.
If you have any questions I will, of course, be happy to answer them.
Ian
..........
The letter was seen by reporters at our sister paper The National
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