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Question Time made its highly anticipated return to the BBC with presenter Fiona Bruce, who was joined by a plethora of politicians to debate and receive questions from the studio audience. Thursday's episode took an unexpected turn as tensions rose between Labour's Lisa Nandy and Reform UK's Richard Tice, and as a result, Fiona was forced to step in. This took place after Nandy was asked if ID cards will stop illegal immigration via the small boat crossing.

She warned: "Beware of any politician who tells you that when it comes to getting control of immigration, there is one single solution. We are coming at this from every single angle, disrupting the gangs, supporting people who have the right to be here..." But before she could finish, Tice interrupted: "We know that disrupting the gangs is not working." To which the fuming Labour MP hit back: "I'm sorry Richard, you've had to say a lot about it this week," as she stuttered: "And it's a different story each time." The pair furiously clashed and spoke over one another, prompting Fiona to interject and rein in the debate as she asked: "Lisa, can I just bring you back to the question about ID cards ... will it be compulsory?"

Referencing Prime Minister Keir Starmer's upcoming UK-wide speech, Lisa responded: "The Prime Minister is going to make some comments about this tomorrow, I can't pre-empt them.

"What I can say is, beware of these snake oil salesmen who tell you that there are simple solutions. If there were simple solutions, they would have been done by now."

As Tice remarked: "Which is not ID cards," Nandy pointed at him and added: "Don't buy what this guy is selling."

Being forced to step in again, Fiona reassured the Reform MP: "Richard, I'll come to you in a minute, just let me go around the panel."

Earlier in the programme, Nandy explained how digital IDs would work and shared: "We think that they offer two benefits. The first is that they'll be able to make sure that people are able to prove their right ot be here, to work here legally, very easily. Which will then help us to deal with the illegal economy.

She added: "We also think that there might be big benefits for citizens. If you think about the way the NHS app has developed in recent years and now you're much more able to do things like make GP appointments online and access your medical records. We think there may be benefits to the general public as well."

According to senior figures in government, the prime minister believes the ID cards will help crack down on illegal working and modernise the state.

Although the previous Labour government's attempt to introduce ID cards was ultimately blocked by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, earlier this month Starmer said that he thought the debate had "moved on" since then.

However, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said introducing mandatory ID would be "very serious step that requires a proper national debate" and criticised the government's announcement as a "desperate gimmick"

She also previously said that digital ID was "not really going to solve the problem" of illegal working in the UK.