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  "path": "/celebrity/bbc-question-time-fiona-bruce-lord-peter-mandelson",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-17T15:23:21.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "ITV I'm A Celebrity fans make demand as David Haye sparks more fury",
    "GB News host hits out at ‘clueless’ young women in gender divide row: 'Epidemic of fatherlessness!'",
    "Amanda Owen backlash erupts over ‘graphic’ lamb video: ‘You should be ashamed!’",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nHuw Irranca-Davies was heckled by audience members during BBC Question Time’s Wales election special as tensions erupted over the Mandelson vetting row.\n\nThe Welsh Deputy First Minister faced repeated shouts after failing to give a direct answer on Sir Keir Starmer.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nWhen host Fiona Bruce asked whether the Prime Minister should resign if he had misled Parliament, Mr Irranca-Davies avoided giving a clear response.\n\n“The story is breaking as we've come on air so I haven't the full details of it,” he said, adding that “the focus also has to be on the victims of Epstein”.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nWelsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds pressed him further, asking: “Is it not a yes or a no?”\n\nAudience members then began shouting, “Yes or no?” while one person yelled, “He's lied!”\n\nThe clash centred on reports that security officials initially refused to grant Lord Mandelson clearance for the Washington ambassadorship.\n\nDespite this, Sir Keir Starmer had already announced him as Britain’s most senior diplomat in the United States.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe Foreign Office later overruled the recommendation, according to reports, in a move described as highly unusual.\n\nSir Keir has since said he was unaware of the vetting issue until earlier this week.\n\nThe Prime Minister, who had previously stated that due process was followed, has now said he is “furious” at not being informed.\n\nHe has pledged to “set out the relevant facts” when addressing Parliament on Monday.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:\n\n\n\n\n  * ITV I'm A Celebrity fans make demand as David Haye sparks more fury\n  * GB News host hits out at ‘clueless’ young women in gender divide row: 'Epidemic of fatherlessness!'\n  * Amanda Owen backlash erupts over ‘graphic’ lamb video: ‘You should be ashamed!’\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nViewers at home also reacted strongly, with many taking to social media to criticise the programme.\n\nSome directed their anger at host Ms Bruce, accusing her of bias.\n\n“Dreadful biased programme, dreadful biased woman,” one viewer wrote.\n\nAnother complained she was “continually butting in like a simple-minded horse, ruining any debate taking place”.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nOne user branded it “absolutely disgraceful” that the Mandelson issue was raised without prompting from the audience.\n\n“Shameful and we know exactly what you are up to,” they added.\n\nOthers claimed the studio audience appeared politically skewed.\n\nOne viewer questioned whether it was “stacked full of lefty, pro immigration supporters as per usual”.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe row comes as opposition parties continue to pile pressure on the Prime Minister.\n\nThe Conservatives, Reform UK, Liberal Democrats and Greens have all called for Sir Keir to resign over the affair.\n\nLord Mandelson, a political appointee rather than a career diplomat, was removed from his Washington role last September after further details emerged about his links to Jeffrey Epstein.\n\nThe convicted sex offender’s connections to senior figures have remained a source of ongoing scrutiny.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, the Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant, Sir Olly Robbins, was dismissed on Thursday following the latest revelations.\n\nThe programme was broadcast from Cardiff ahead of the Senedd elections on May 7.\n\n\nPolls suggest Welsh Labour’s long-standing dominance could be under threat from Plaid Cymru or Reform UK.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "BBC Question Time 'bias' row erupts as viewers blast Fiona Bruce: 'Disgraceful!'"
}