Politicians fear for BBC NI's Let's Talk

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) who sit on its culture committee believe the show is under threat and want to meet BBC Northern Ireland director Peter Johnston to discuss its future. Let’s Talk airs on BBC1 in Northern Ireland on Thursdays at 10.35pm. It ended its most recent run on 25 June.

The committee’s deputy chair David McNarry said: “This is something that the committee was unanimous on. When you go on Let’s Talk as a politician, you never know what questions you are going to be asked, but I think it is a good thing, it is an opportunity and it is attracting a younger audience.

“We want to know why the BBC is considering stopping the programme. And if it plans to remove it, we would like to know what it is going to replace it with.”

BBC Northern Ireland said it was “proud to provide viewers with some of the most extensive political coverage in the UK”, citing the likes of The Politics Show, Stormont Live and Hearts and Minds on TV and Inside Politics and Today at the Assembly on BBC Radio Ulster.

It added: “We are currently looking at ways to maximise the impact of our political and current affairs output. We recognise the importance of facilitating discussion between public figures and the public and we look forward to announcing future plans for this style of programme in the coming months.”