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Empty chair on Question Time as BBC tells the Government: No Woolas, no minister
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor23.10.08
THE BBC barred the Government from its flagship Question Time programme today after Immigration Minister Phil Woolas was withdrawn at the last minute.
Mr Woolas, who has called for a limit on migrant numbers, had been due to appear on the BBC1 show tonight but the Home Office pulled him amid fears that he had become too controversial.
Employment minister Tony McNulty was offered the spot instead, but the BBC asserted its editorial independence and refused.
In a rare step, Question Time has decided to "empty chair" the Government and no ministerial representative will appear. Labour, which normally decides who appears, will be represented instead by Lord Hattersley. The Home Office claims that it wanted a Cabinet-level minister to appear instead to discuss jobs and the economy and so suggested Employment Minister Mr McNulty as a replacement.
Tonight's panel will consist of Scotland's SNP First Minister Alex Salmond, Tory shadow communities minister Baroness Warsi, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokeswoman Jo Swinson and the editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber.
Asked about the inclusion of no member of the Government, he said: "That's really a question for them." Mr Woolas, who has been in his job for less than a month, launched a stinging attack on the Government's record of managing migration in a debate in central London on Monday.
Labour's failure to fund asylum removals properly had caused "untold human misery and division", he said, after hitting the headlines on Saturday when he suggested in a Times interview that there could be a population cap of 70 million, before appearing to row back.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said of Mr Woolas: "He has only been in the position for a fortnight but he has already managed to cause more chaos in less time than any of his predecessors," adding he had "taken up more positions on immigration than someone in training with the Kama Sutra".
Reader views (5)
I think the cap of 70 million is wholly realistic. However, I think population control isn't solely about restricting immigration; it's about halting our own unsustainable native birth-rate too, and that's the wider issue he should be addressing here.
- Karen Jemmett, Torquay, United Kingdom
I should imagine it is because he is very vocal about halting the influx of foreign nationals to the UK, which l think must be done.
- Meg, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.
Why has the Government barred Mr Woolas from questions time? Because he does not represent the current "narrative" the prevailing lie that we are all supposed to swallow without question.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, UK.
This government is in a mess, P45 all round please!
- Jeremy E, London, UK.
Why has the Government barred Mr Woolas from questions time?
- Maggie, London
