Presenting Question Time on BBC One, Fiona Bruce lost patience with Richard Tice, one of five Reform MPs in power, during a heated exchange around climate change
Fiona Bruce silenced Reform MP Richard Tice during a heated debate on Question Time last night.
The presenter of the BBC One show threatened to “gag” the politician when he kept trying to interrupt Co-leader of the Green Party, Adrian Ramsay, as attention turned to climate change.
The Green Party politician, 43, tried to discuss his hopes for future generations – but Mr Tice, MP for Boston and Skegness, repeatedly attempted to interject. Eventually, Ms Bruce warned: “Richard, if you keep on interrupting I will have to put a gag on you or something. Just, I will come to you, I promise.”
And this week’s audience in Skipton, North Yorkshire, applauded the lecture, which was seemingly the putdown Mr Tice, 60, needed as Mr Ramsay was finally able to finish his point.
Mr Ramsay, who has led the Green Party with Carla Denyer since October 2021, said: “Those scenes we saw during Covid when we saw not enough food on the supermarket shelves will become all too common if we don’t, bot only get climate in check, but also get more resilient to the changes that are coming down the track.
“We’ve got to step up our efforts because I want to look at my children, and future generations in the eye and say ‘we have done everything we can’ and not only that, but ‘we have taken every opportunity we can to make a better future’.”
But it was at this point Mr Tice piped up, insisting any plans around climate change have not worked. The exchange became tense and Ms Bruce had to ask the Reform MP to wait for his turn. He was warned twice by Ms Bruce to let Mr Ramsay finish but, after more petulance, the presenter gave the politician the dressing down.
The audience clapped and cheered, and even Mr Tice couldn’t help but chuckle at Ms Bruce’s stern warning. His rival was eventually able to complete his address about sustaining the environment for future generations.
In earlier scenes, Mr Tice squirmed under Ms Bruce’s questioning about the Reform UK’s war of words between the party’s chief Nigel Farage and fellow MP Rupert Lowe.
