A furious Lee Anderson snapped back at a heckler during a fiery speech where he said there had been “a whole raft of perverts” at the BBC. Mr Anderson, the Reform UK MP for Ashfield, was speaking at the BBC Charter Renewal debate in Westminster Hall earlier this week.

Footage has since emerged showing the moment the no-nonsense politician eviscerated the corporation by listing infamous former BBC employees who became embroiled in scandals, including predators such as Jimmy Savile and disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards. But as Mr Anderson spoke in the hall he paused momentarily to respond to someone seemingly trying to interject off camera.

Before the remarkable scene unfolded, Mr Anderson said there was a “whole raft of perverts who stalked the corridors of the BBC”. He added: “None of these here will talk about thatโ€”not one of them. Mark my words, those creatures are still stalking the corridors of the BBC. In future their names will come out.”

It was at this moment an inaudible interruption was made in the chamber, to which Mr Anderson robustly responded: “Would the hon. Member like to intervene? I thought not.”

Whoever attempted the intervention was not named in the Hansard record of the session, but Chair Carolyn Harris was forced to intervene. She said: “Order. I will have no chuntering from a sedentary position, please.”

Mr Anderson thanked the Chair and continued with his assessment of the BBC, adding: “Look what they did to Cliff Richard: filmed a raid on his house when he was an innocent man.

“Look what they did to Princess Diana. Look what they did to Donald Trump, our closest ally.

“Bob Vylan were on stage shouting, โ€œDeath, death to the IDF.โ€ What about the Gaza documentaries? What about the dodgy reporting of the bank accounts of my hon. Friend the Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage)? The list goes on and on.”

Scottish Labour MP Torcuil Crichton questioned if Mr Anderson paid his licence fee for the BBC. He said: “Does the hon. Member watch or listen to the BBC because, if he does, he is obliged to pay his licence fee?”.

But Mr Anderson was defiant in his reply, responding: “I do not listen to the BBC at all and I do not watch live TV. I do not get enough time, as a Member of Parliament and a TV presenter. All my time seems to be taken up with that.

“I will finish with this: I hope the Minister agrees with me and the vast majority of the British public that people should have a choice. It should be a subscription service, and then people can decide whether or not they watch it and whether or not they pay for it.”

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