LIZ Truss will set out her vision for Britain if she becomes Prime Minister in a special live programme to be broadcast on the People’s Channel GB News next week.
The People’s Forum with Liz Truss will see the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs appear in a red wall seat and set out her stall in front of a live audience of GB News viewers and listeners.
Presenter Alastair Stewart will host the event in Leigh, Greater Manchester, next Wednesday (August 10) which will be shown live on television, online and on GB News Radio on DAB+, currently the fastest-growing radio station for UK audiences with 250,000 listeners a week.
The channel has also invited Rishi Sunak, Ms Truss’ rival for the Conservative leadership, to take part in an exclusive People’s Forum event which would aired on a separate night.
Explaining why she had accepted an invite from GB News to appear in the People’s Forum, Ms Truss said: “I am looking forward to talking to GB News viewers and our members in the heart of our Red Wall and taking their questions. As Prime Minister, I will work tirelessly to deliver for those who voted for us across the Red Wall, including those who put their trust in us for the first time in 2019. I have a bold and ambitious economic plan and the experience in Government to deliver it. I am on the side of people who work hard and do the right thing and as Prime Minister I will make sure we are an ‘aspiration nation’ with a fast growing economy and ensure every part of the country thrives.”
In line with GB News’ mission to embrace all views, audience members will represent a cross-section of political opinion and will ask questions that cover a breadth of topics, including Brexit, migration, tax, law and order, and much more
Immediately after Ms Truss’ appearance, Michelle Dewberry will host a special edition of Dewbs and Co, in which she’ll be joined by a panel of guests to analyse Ms Truss’ performance. Audience views and comments will be included.
For veteran presenter Alastair Stewart, the event comes 12 years after he hosted the first ever televised leaders’ debate between David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Gordon Brown in 2010.
“I am thrilled to be carrying on the tradition and helping it evolve as a format,” he said. “This is a Peoples’ Debate where we will hear their questions and hear the candidates’ answers. I’m just an honest broker – an impartial referee. I can’t wait.”
In a letter sent to Mr Sunak and Ms Truss, setting out the format of the People’s Forum, the Editorial Director of GB News, Mick Booker, said: “The idea of these Forums is to draw out the thinking of each candidate on the issues closest to our viewers and listeners’ hearts.
“At GB News we do this in a warm conversational way – it is not our style to go in search of ‘gotcha’ moments or high-octane arguments between the candidates. We really listen. Viewers and listeners consistently tell us how much they enjoy the fact we are disrupting the cosy club of pre-existing news broadcast channels and programmes, many of which filter out opinions simply because they clash with fashionable metropolitan mindsets.”
