The BBC was today accused of violating its own editorial guidelines after a Question Time audience member was named online as a far-right activist who may even have stood in a general election for the National Front.
The corporation faces another vetting row after viewers claimed that the woman who asked the panel about immigration was named online as Sherri Peach, allegedly a supporter of fascist group Britain First who also attended Free Tommy Robinson rallies.
Thursday’s edition of the programme was broadcast from Weymouth and saw the audience claim the UK has ‘had enough’ of immigration, adding Britain is ‘sinking’ because of immigrants and ‘we should completely close our borders’.
She went on to complain about the cost of translating NHS resources into different languages and launched a furious tirade about foreign nationals ‘getting it all for free’ before having a slanging match with left-wing commentator Ash Sarkar, who was on the panel.
But today questions have been raised over whether Peach should have been allowed on the show at all because of her links to Britain’s far-right – in yet another row over the balance of BBC audiences after a string of scandals involving both far-left and far-right supporters asking questions on the show.
The BBC and Mentorn, who help choose Question Time audiences, have been approached by MailOnline but refused to comment on the woman’s identity or if she hid her political affiliations when applying for the show.
The BBC has been plunged into a racism row after this Question Time audience member was unmasked as a far-right Tommy Robinson supporter (pictured at #FreeTommy’ protest
John O’Connell, a senior member of Far-Right Watch, said he believes the Question Time audience member appears to be a supporter of fascist organisations such as Britain First and before that the National Front
A BBC spokesman said: ‘Last week’s Question Time included a debate about immigration which featured a broad range of views from the audience members and panellists. We posted five clips of people expressing their different views on the issue, including a panellist responding directly to the views of an audience member’.
John O’Connell, a senior member of Far-Right Watch, tweeted a picture of what appeared to be the same woman at a Free Tommy Robinson rally after the former EDL leader was jailed for contempt of court for protesting outside the trial of an Asian sex gang.
Mr O’Connell said: ‘If the woman on the left is the woman on the right, FRW can assist. Left is Sherri Peach, nee Bothwell, mostly connected with Britain First, married to former National Front Election Candidate, Roy Peach’.
He added that he had ‘confirmation from multiple sources’ that it was her.
Others shared the results from the 1974 general election, which named Sherri Bothwell as the National Front’s candidate for Leyton in east London.
Footage of her at at a London Tommy Robinson protest, shared by the anti-Fascist Zelo Street blog, shows her draped in a Union Jack flag and screaming at the camera: ‘Tommy was locked up for nothing – for exposing Muslim groups. Free Tommy.’
Speaking on the show the woman, who claims to live in London, said: ‘Sixty-eight million people now live in England and it’s going up. At what stage does the panel think this country has had enough.
‘We should close the borders, completely close the borders.
‘Because it’s got to the stage now where there’s no education, no schooling, no infrastructure. It’s enough.
‘We are sinking. Surely someone’s got to see common sense and say enough is enough.’
She continued her furious rant by saying: ‘You’ve got people flooding into this country who cannot speak English.’
The woman, who drew gasps from the crowd, said she had been in hospital in London recently and ‘everything was written in a different language’.
She asked furiously: ‘How much is that costing? How much is it for an interpreter?
Thursday’s edition of the programme was broadcast from Weymouth and saw a woman in the audience claim the UK has ‘had enough’ of immigration
The woman’s intervention sparked angry comments online
‘What sort of country is allowing this? You can arrive on a plane, you get free service, you can just carry it on getting it all for free.
‘Why haven’t they got points set up in the hospital and you pay – like you do in every other country you go to?’
When panel member Ash Sarkar began to respond by saying immigrants pump more into the economy than they take out, the guest shouted: ‘Rubbish!’
Ms Sarkar hit back saying: ‘It’s true. Facts don’t get care about your feelings it’s true.’
The journalist then told of how her grandmother was allowed to settle in the UK from abroad because of a labour shortage in the social care sector.
The woman’s intervention sparked angry comments online, with one person posting on Twitter: ‘The BBC has the cheek to dig a rapid Tommy Robinson supporter out of her hole and sell it as providing a ‘balanced view’.’
Another person wrote: ‘There was a time when audience members like this would be cut off very quickly. Now you give them a platform to spout racism. Why?’
Some else commented: ‘What a hateful woman – we need immigrant workers to do the jobs no-one else is prepared to do…’
Another Twitter user branded the Corporation an ‘irresponsible broadcaster’.
MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment.