FIONA Bruce interrupted First Minister John Swinney around 20 times during his half-hour grilling on Question Time.
The most persistent spell of interruptions seemed to come when Swinney raised Brexit, with Bruce being accused of a “blatant” attempt to shut down his answer to a question on manufacturing.
An audience member asked the First Minister what the SNP would do to grow the sector specifically.
He responded: “First of all, I would argue for us to rejoin the European Union because that I think is the source of the problems in the manufacturing sector.”
Swinney was applauded by the audience but Bruce flew in to say: “But given you have to get through a lot of hoops to get there […] I think you want something slightly shorter-term?”
Swinney then said: “My point is, there’s a couple of big issues in this campaign that aren’t seeing the light of day and one of them is the disastrous impact of Brexit on the UK economy.”
Bruce interrupted once again to say: “And you are of course free to offer that opinion but that is not the question being asked.”
Political commentator Adam Schwarz said on social media that Swinney was right with his arguments in that Brexit was failing to be addressed.
He said on Twitter/X: “A shameless and blatant attempt by Fiona Bruce to shut down discussion on Brexit’s industrial impact.
A shameless and blatant attempt by Fiona Bruce to shut down discussion on Brexit's industrial impact. John Swinney is absolutely right that Brexit is having the single greatest detrimental effect on UK manufacturing and it's failing to be addressed in election discourse.#bbcqt pic.twitter.com/Y1CYE2dcgU
— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) June 20, 2024
“John Swinney is absolutely right that Brexit is having the single greatest detrimental effect on the UK manufacturing and it’s failing to be addressed in election discourse.”
Last month, Bruce was criticised for similar treatment of SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.
Earlier in the special programme, the host spoke over Swinney within seconds of him trying to answer the first question from the audience which focused on the “scandals and dramas” within the party.
Swinney was asked how he would differ from his predecessors and briefly was able to say: “We’ve had a very tough time as a party in the last couple of years and as a consequence of all of those difficulties I’m hear to lead the Scottish National Party.”
Bruce then interrupted to explain some of the incidents that have occurred in recent years with the SNP, including the fact former chief executive Peter Murrell had been charged with embezzlement.
Swinney then went on: “It has been a turbulent time and I’d be the first to accept that. My party has asked me to lead it through this election campaign and beyond the 2026 parliamentary elections to essentially do two things: to rebuild trust between the electorate and the SNP, and, I’ve always worked throughout my political life to build trust and confidence with the electorate that have chosen me, and secondly to provide the direction in the Scottish Government that’s necessary to change people’s lives.”
After the audience member went on to say he was disappointed with the SNP in recent times, Bruce then interrupted Swinney again before he could get a word out in response.
She said: “I mean how has it gone so badly wrong? The SNP has been known for its discipline, its party discipline, for its stability, you’ve been a key figure in the SNP for a long time. Where has it all gone wrong?”
Bruce also interrupted Swinney when he was talking about the Scottish Parliament having a mandate for independence from the 2021 election, when a pro-independence majority was secured.
She said: “But in your manifesto you’re talking about this election so surely you can’t say, on the one hand, if you win a majority of Scottish seats at Westminster, that is giving us the green light to see if we can get another referendum, but if you don’t win them, surely that is giving you the red light?”
As Swinney tried to answer the question, Bruce interrupted twice again within seconds.
The BBC has been approached for comment.
