Bonnie Greer praised for ‘owning’ Question Time audience member who denies foreigners have it bad in UK

Bonnie Greer on BBC's Question Time. Photograph: BBC. - Credit: Archant

TNE columnist Bonnier Greer has been praised for calling out a man in the Question Time audience who has denied that foreigners have it bad living in the UK.

An audience member on BBC’s Question Time questions Bonnie Greer. Photograph: BBC. – Credit: Archant

The powerful moment happened after Bonnie Greer – a TNE columnist – discussed the “racially motivated” attacks on Meghan Markle when she made the claim that “it is bad being a foreigner in this country right now”.

Questioned about her comments by an audience member Greer defended her comments by telling the audience about a Polish mum she knew who was too scared to speak her language in public because she feared abuse.

An unconvinced white member of the audience member asked: “Why is it bad to be a foreigner in this country at the moment?”

She said: “I have a friend who is Polish, she’s lived here since about 2000. Her little girl was born here and she doesn’t speak Polish to her anymore on the bus or the Tube because people abuse her.”

After a silence, presenter Fiona Bruce tried to move proceedings on, but Greer wanted to ask the audience member if it answered his question.

But the audience member did not believe she had. He continued: “I disagree with the comment. Whether she speaks Polish to her daughter or not, that’s her choice.”

“She can’t speak Polish to her daughter in public because she’s maligned and hassled. That’s why she doesn’t do it. Her daughter’s losing her maternal language because her mother isn’t speaking to her anymore in public,” Greer replied.

The man in the audience however went on to claim that she had labelled the whole country as racist, and said that the abuse was from a minority.

Calmly Greer pointed out, to applause, that she had not labelled anyone.

She said: “I didn’t label anybody. I said right now it’s hard to be a foreigner in this country. You’re not, I am and I know what it’s about.”

As the clip surfaced on social media, one responded: “She is phenomenal. The gammon in the audience does not know what he’s talking about. Clearly.”

Another wrote: “Bonnie Greer OWNED this deliberately ignorant man.”

Andrew Powell tweeted: “Bonnie Greer is telling it like it is. Since 2016 I’ve lost count the amount of times either myself or friends and family have been told to ‘go back home’ or ‘where are you from’.”