Apologise to race row TV host, BBC chiefs told
Former head of equalities quango slams ‘censorship’
THE BBC should apologise to a TV presenter involved in a race row, former equalities boss Trevor Phillips has said.
The corporation is facing pressure over its reprimand to naga Munchetty for condemning Donald Trump’s call for four Democratic congresswomen to ‘go back to their own countries’.
Mr Phillips said the decision had put a ‘stain’ on the professional reputation of the 44-year-old journalist.
In an on-air discussion with Breakfast co-host Dan Walker, Miss Munchetty, who has Indian and Mauritian ancestry, said: ‘Every time I have been told, as a woman of colour, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism.’
Following a single complaint, the BBC ruled she was entitled to describe comments as racist but had breached guidelines by also challenging Mr Trump’s motives. Mr Phillips, former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the BBC should update its guidelines to reflect the fact it now employed many more journalists of different backgrounds.
He added: ‘That way, they could boast about their success in promoting diversity and resolve this issue instead of digging themselves further into a hole over all this.
‘The BBC always gets its knickers into a twist about race, making mistake after mistake. In this instance, we have a professional journalist doing what journalists are paid to – to make an informed decision – but they are saying she shouldn’t be allowed to do that.
‘It is a form of censorship and the way they have handled it has put a stain on her professional reputation.’
David Jordan, the BBC’s editorial policy director, has suggested Walker led Miss Munchetty, 44, into the remarks she made during their discussion in July.
Chancellor Sajid Javid and comic Sir Lenny Henry have condemned the decision to reprimand Miss Munchetty. BBC newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis warned that the complaints unit looked ‘massively out of touch’.
A petition to have its decision reversed had last night reached more than 11,500 signatures. A BBC spokesman said: ‘The BBC is fully committed to complying with the Equality Act, and we’re not aware of any failure to do so.
‘The statement from the executive team is clear, the BBC is not impartial on racism.
‘Racism is not an opinion and it is not a matter for debate. Racism is racism.
‘naga has the very clear support of the top of the organisation.’