A live televised debate for Channel 4 news on whether the Niqab or Islamic face-veil should be banned in public places was filmed in the borough’s biggest mosque.

The debate, which was broadcast to the nation last night, was the first televised event to be filmed in the East London Mosque on Whitechapel road.

Around 50 women, most of them wearing a full face-veil, sat in the audience for the “Question Time”-like event in the hall of the London Muslim Centre, part of the mosque’s building.

The debate featured contributions from a panel of writers and campaigners, including writer Shalina Litt, activist Sahar Al-Faifi, writer Douglas Murray, Islam lecturer Khola Hasan and broadcaster Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.

Navid Akhtar, a producer for Channel 4, said: “It took quite a big effort, but this is a group of people in society who are talked about but very rarely come forward to speak themselves.”