BBC Question Time will once again return this evening following yet another eventful week in UK politics. 

Details of the UK’s trade deal with Australia emerged, with Government ministers insisting that the farmers would not be impacted, members of the G7 met to discuss a host of matters and Covid easing was delayed for many areas of the UK.  Meanwhile, there were more issues for the Prime Minister with Dominic Cummings publishing expletive-laden messages apparently from Boris Johnson in which he called the health secretary "hopeless".

With a host of hot topics from around politics, there will be plenty for the BBC Question Time panel to discuss. But who is on the BBC Question Time panel this evening and what can viewers expect?

Mark Harper 

The Conservative MP and chairman of the Covid Recovery Group will represent the UK Government on the BBC show. The MP for Forest of Dean has been a critic on a number of measures surrounding the Covid-19 restrictions with the MP admitting that he fears some restrictions may never ease following the announcement that restrictions would remain in place until July. He told LBC “Some of us, I’m afraid, are a bit worried that we’re not going to actually move forward on the 19 July.”

“I listened carefully to what the Prime Minister said yesterday and I was in the House of Commons for the Health Secretary’s statement, and it seemed to me we don’t know anything today that we didn’t know when the Prime Minister was telling us he was happy to move ahead on the 21 June.

“Ultimately we’ve reduced the risk of this disease hugely by our fantastic vaccination programme, and, as the government says, we’ve got to learn to live with it, but the problem is every time we get to that point, Ministers seem to not actually want to live with it and keep restrictions in place.”

The chair of lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group also said: “My worry, and the worry of others, is we’re going to get to this point in four weeks’ time and we’re just going to be back here all over again extending the restrictions.” 

The former chief whip of the House of Commons added: "Given that no vaccine in history has been 100% effective and our Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, says Covid will be with us ‘forever’, there will be vaccinated and unvaccinated people who will get ill, be hospitalised and sadly die from Covid for the rest of time,

Earlier this year, Harper claimed the Government had made “dodgy assumptions” and accused the Government of failing to understand the effectiveness of the Covid-19 jab and assuming a low uptake of those willing to have it.

Harper famously rebelled against the government during Theresa May’s tenure Harper stood by his belief that the Hunting Act should be repealed saying: "If we were faced with the same pledge as last time I would vote to repeal the Act, I did not agree with it being banned and I am not opposed to hunting”

Sarah Jones 

The shadow minister for police and fire services will appear on the panel representing Labour. The MP for Croydon Central has been critical of the government over-policing, the handling of Grenfell and knife crime. Jones backed Sir Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labourship election. Jones worked as a civil servant to deliver the London 2012 Olympic Games and has been an MP for Croydon Central since 2017.

Recently, Jones made headlines after she did not back calls for Dame Cressida Dick to resign amid a storm over the Metropolitan Police’s handling of a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard. At the time, Jones did not back the calls, urging for the focus “to be on Sarah Everard and the increasing problems of violence against women”.

In 2020 she was critical of the government for failing to reform over Grenfell saying: “The Government has continuously broken their promises, while tens of thousands of people across the country are stuck living in unsafe flats.

“The victims and survivors of Grenfell are still waiting for justice. This is completely unacceptable.

“Labour’s amendment to the Bill is an attempt to force the Government to deliver the recommendations of the Grenfell Inquiry’s phase one report.

“Every measure necessary should be put in place to prevent a fire like Grenfell from ever happening again.

Ian Blackford 

The SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford will also appear on BBC Question Time. 

Blackford, who represents the SNP during PMQs made headlines this week after he quizzed Boris Johnson on the Whatsapp messages between himself and Dominic Cummings. 

He asked Boris Johnson: "As we enter the chamber we see what is reported to be WhatsApp communication between the Prime Minister and Dominic Cummings.

"Perhaps the Prime Minister will clarify on whether or not these are genuine and whether the derogatory comments that he expressed on his Health Secretary are valid or not."

The SNP Westminster leader has also been critical of a host of moves from the UK Government and has frequently made headlines on matters such as Brexit, Foreign Aid spending, Scottish independence and more. Recently, he was also critical on the Australia trade deal saying Scotland’s farmers and crofters would be disproportionately affected by such a  deal, with the country’s beef, dairy, sheep and grain sectors, particularly at risk.

He raised the issue at PMQs but also wrote a letter to Alister Jack on the matter which read: “The continued uncertainty surrounding the prospect of your government signing up to a post-Brexit trade deal, which would grant tariff-free access to Australian farmers, is a source of deep and growing concern for our own farming and crofting communities.

“This morning’s speculation of a UK Government offer to phase in a zero-tariff, zero quota regime over a number of years could, in effect, place a time limit on the future of farming livelihoods across these islands.

“Given that this speculated offer is currently only a negotiating position, the real threat exists that an already disastrous deal for farmers can only get worse.

“Such a trade deal would represent a bitter betrayal of rural communities, undermining and undercutting our agricultural sector and would amount to a genuine threat to future viability.

Blackford famously led SNP MPs to walk out of the House of Commons during a session of PMQs. The MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber often votes the same way as other Scottish National Party MPs in the House of Commons, voting for a right to remain for EU nationals already living in the UK, UK membership of the EU and against replacing Trident.

Rosemary Squire 

Joint CEO and executive chair of Trafalgar Entertainment Rosemary Squire will also be on the BBC Question Time panel.

Squire spoke out against the recent decision from Boris Johnson to delay easing restrictions in England. She said the announcement was a “catastrophe” for the theatre, music and live entertainment sector, adding: “This delay is yet another bungle from a government that wouldn’t be given a single star in a review of its performance. The confusion and muddled messages are reminiscent of a West End farce.”

In May this year, it was announced that Trafalgar Entertainment will operate the Olympia in Kensington with plans announced for the construction of the biggest theatre in London for 45 years. 

In 2018, Squire was made a Dame by the Queen at Windsor Castle for her services to theatre and philanthropy.

Daniel Finkelstein

Daniel Finkelstein OBE will complete the panel on the BBC flagship show. The former executive editor of The Times continues to write a weekly political column. The former chairman of Policy Exchange has been a Conservative peer since 2013.

Viewers can expect some comment from Finkel on the Cummings/Johnson saga with Finkelstein writing in The Times “it didn’t take a superforecaster to see that the relationship” between the prime minister and his chief adviser “was a disaster in the making”

Question Time airs on BBC One at 10:45pm.