Producers of the BBC One Panorama programme have been accused of rigging a poll of the studio audience on the issue of the European single currency, the result of which was a swing in support of the euro.

Forum Response: BBC

A spokesperson for the BBC told ePolitix.com: "Far from rigging the vote we were absolutely committed to a fair and accurate voting process. At the end of the day, at the London studio, we had equal numbers of pro-euro and anti-euro supporters.

"Had we not taken action, we would have had a distorted picture. Everything we did aimed at achieving a balanced result and it is unfortunate that some members of the audience got the wrong end of the stick."

Forum Response: Business for Sterling

A spokesperson for the No Campaign at Business for Sterling told ePolitix.com: "During the debate, presenter David Dimbleby mistakenly claimed that there had been a move towards supporting the euro. In fact there had been a small swing towards the no camp, with the gap widening by one per cent from 37-39 against the euro before the debate to 45-48 after. The mistake was quickly spotted and the programme broadcast without this section.

"Despite being told by the BBC that the audience was not representative of public opinion and that the poll result was mistaken, Britain in Europe briefed an Express journalist on Monday using the incorrect figures.

"An online poll conducted by Panorama moved against the euro after the debate. On Sunday afternoon with 2000 votes it was about 53-46 against the euro. The morning after the debate with 6200 votes, the gap had widened to 61 per cent against and 39 per cent in favour.

"The real lesson of the Panorama exercise is that in a fiercely contested debate, people who are undecided divide both ways. This underlines the huge mountain that the pro-euro lobby have to climb. The government will only call a referendum if they think they can win but the idea put about by pro-euro ministers, that they can go into a campaign behind in the polls and turn around huge opposition within months is simply wrong."