European Union referendum debate to be held at Wembley

A major televised debate on membership of the European Union will be held at Wembley Arena just two days before the referendum, under plans announced by the BBC.

Picture: Neil Hanna

The corporation plans three major debate programmes on BBC One in the run-up to the 23 June vote.

The live Wembley event on 21 June will be hosted by veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby with Mishal Husain and Emily Maitlis, with thousands of voters invited to question representatives from the Leave and Remain camps.

The debate at the north London arena will be “the BBC’s biggest ever campaign event”, a spokesman said.

The other set piece events include a programme aimed at young voters, which will be presented by Victoria Derbyshire live in Glasgow on 19 May.

The week before the referendum, Dimbleby will host a special edition of BBC One’s Question Time programme featuring a key figure from each camp.

The BBC said: “All three of the programmes will feature key campaigners from both sides of the debate, and live audiences from a cross-section of the electorate.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman said it had not yet been decided whether David Cameron would be willing to take part in any televised referendum debate.