Fox demands meeting with BBC over Brexit ‘bias’

LIAM FOX has demanded a meeting with the BBC director-general after accusing the broadcaster of “biased” coverage of Brexit.

The International Trade Secretary wrote to Lord Hall to say the corporation had “wilfully” ignored positive stories about Brexit. He also accused the BBC of preferring interviews with pro-eu commentators, predicting disaster as a result of Brexit, to speaking to Leave campaigners.

Dr Fox wrote: “I cannot recall a single time in recent times when I have seen good economic news that the BBC did not describe as ‘despite Brexit’.”

In his letter, seen by The Daily Telegraph, Dr Fox claims there is a “clear pattern of unbalanced reporting of the EU economy”. Dr Fox, who is in Washington DC for the latest stage of talks with the US about a post-brexit trade deal, says reporting has undermined his efforts to strike agreements.

He says that on July 6 the BBC chose not to report the annual foreign direct investment figures published by his department, even though his team called the BBC’S economics, business and political desks to flag up the story.

He wrote: “These figures are an important indicator of the attractiveness of the UK to foreign investors, yet the BBC turned down the opportunity to publish the story or take interviews. The figures just so happened to show a

‘I cannot recall a time when I have seen good economic news that the BBC did not describe as “despite Brexit”’

record number of projects in the UK from foreign investors.”

On July 7, he says, he alerted the BBC to monthly trade statistics showing exports had risen by 10.8 per cent, but the BBC ignored it and ran a piece about the widening trade deficit.

A spokesman for the BBC said: “We do not recognise the characterisation of our coverage outlined in the letter, but the BBC is happy to talk with politicians, as we do on a regular basis.”