BBC Question Time Cut Short After Woman In Audience Collapses

She was given first aid and has now come out of hospital.
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Question Time host David Dimbleby.
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The BBC was forced to cut short this week’s episode of Question Time after an audience member fell ill and had to be taken hospital.

The broadcaster reported that it had to suspend recording from Colchester town hall, Essex, while a woman was given first aid after she appeared to collapse in the front row.

The woman is now out of hospital and “thanks everyone for their concern”, the show said on Friday. 

Host David Dimbleby said she “could not be safely moved” and halted the show after 40 minutes.

Simon Crow, 52, who was in the second row, told HuffPost UK: “It was a great debate with a fantastic atmosphere.

“Unfortunately, after a heated discussion about new homes development which had total audience support about the problems Colchester faces due to over-development, a lady seemed to fall from her seat in the front row and collapsed on the floor.

“An ambulance was called, paramedics attended but then Dimbleby announced it would be an hour before she could be moved, so the filming was abandoned.”

According to the BBC, the panel, which featured business secretary Greg Clark and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, had already been asked “what is the point of capitalism?” and whether the Budget could fix the broken housing market.

The episode was broadcast in a shortened form at its usual time on Thursday evening.