BBC attacked for debate on gay execution

An MP has condemned the BBC for hosting an online debate asking if homosexuals should face execution.

That was the question put to users of the BBC website yesterday, on a talkboard discussion as part of a World Service programme for African listeners.

The discussion, sparked by an anti-homosexuality bill due to be debated tomorrow by the Ugandan parliament, quickly caused controversy and was renamed "Should Uganda debate gay execution?"

Eric Joyce, the Labour MP for Falkirk, labelled the post "more than offensive". "It's completely unacceptable," he wrote on his Twitter blog.

Liliane Landor, the BBC World Service acting head of Africa region, said it realised the headline, but it was carefully put in context. "We wanted to frame the question starkly, in order to reflect the stark reality of the Ugandan bill," she said.