BBC edited interview with deputy leader after Labour concerns

THE BBC is under fire after cutting short an interview with Angela Rayner over whether she broke the electoral law amid “concerns” from Labour staffers.

On Friday, Nick Watt, Newsnight’s political editor, admitted editing an interview he conducted with the Labour deputy leader three weeks ago to remove a comparison between the row over her former council house and the “Beergate” saga.

In the clip omitted from the original broadcast, Mr Watt asked Ms Rayner whether she would consider her position untenable if it turned out she was in the wrong, just as Sir Keir Starmer had pledged to resign if he was fined over claims he broke Covid rules in “Beergate”.

Speaking live on Friday’s programme, he said the decision to cut the exchange was made for a “good editorial reason”. But he also admitted that Labour’s team had raised “concerns” after the interview that the “Beergate” comparison was unfair, as Ms Rayner was not under police investigation at the time.

Greg Smith, the Conservative MP for Buckingham, said licence fee payers who “expect impartiality” will “want answers” as to why the broadcaster made the edit when “virtually every media outlet is focusing on this story”.

The broadcaster aired the clip for the first time on Friday, after Greater Manchester Police said it had launched an investigation into claims Ms Rayner wrongly declared which house was her permanent address on the electoral roll, which is a criminal offence. Ms Rayner has also faced questions about whether she should have paid capital gains tax on the 2015 sale of her council house.

She and Sir Keir had both said they would resign if they were charged over so-called “Beergate”, where the Labour leader and colleagues drank beer and had a takeaway curry after a campaign event in April 2021 when most indoor gatherings were banned.

Since the Newsnight interview, Ms Rayner has promised to resign if she is found to have broken the law. But she insists she “followed the rules at all times”.

In the segment of the interview that was cut, Ms Rayner had refused to commit to resigning if found to have committed an offence, saying: “Well, I’ve had the expert advice and I do not owe any capital gains tax on that property.”

Explaining the decision to edit the interview, Mr Watt said on Friday: “That comparison between where we are today and the so-called “Beergate” issue two or three years ago, I decided at the time for editorial reasons that we shouldn’t run that.

“Now inevitably, you can’t run all of an interview – you have to make cuts. But for transparency, I should say that the Labour team did after the interview raise concerns about that exchange.

“They essentially said they didn’t really see how you could make a comparison between a commitment Keir Starmer had given two years ago after the police announced they were going to investigate him and Angela Rayner’s

‘For transparency, I should say the Labour team did after the interview raise concerns’

‘It was a different situation then, good editorial reason not to include that exchange’

position after the police said they would not investigate her.

“Because of course when I interviewed Angela Rayner, the police had said they would not be investigating this matter. So look, it was a different situation then, good editorial reason at the time not to include that exchange.”

He added: “But obviously in light of today’s statement, today’s development, which is that police statement, and what Angela Rayner has said, we think that that exchange from that interview should be aired.”

A BBC spokesman said: “Nick Watt transparently explained the full situation to viewers on Friday’s Newsnight, including the fact that it’s normal to make editorial decisions about what is and isn’t used from a pre-recorded interview.”