LETTER: Why can't town host Question Time?

Having just watched one of Mansfield's favourite sons, Richard Bacon, perform with distinction on the BBC television Question Time (QT) programme, and noting that they are transmitting a forthcoming broadcast from Barnsley, I got to wonder as to why our town has not hosted a QT show?

I recall the BBC saying that it would like to visit smaller communities with the panel rather than keep going to the same old larger cities such as Sheffield and Birmingham on a sort of rota.

I feel that Mansfield has contributed much to national politics, in that the last major UK trade union was established hereabouts, the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM), we had one of the first directly elected mayors, and our people recently bucked the trend and returned a Conservative MP, a young man who seems to be working hard for Mansfield. Could I therefore respectfully call on our community leaders to invite the BBC to our special town to stage what would be a very interesting Question Time.

As to the panel, I note that Dennis Skinner remarked in his film that he used to be a regular on this programme. I’d love to see him giving his views on current affairs to what would be a wide audience. I would add that Richard Bacon has matured into a very knowledgeable broadcaster, I am sure his family are very proud of him.

David Stafford

Berry Hill Road,

Mansfield