BBC star accused of breaking bias rules after tweets backing Nicola
SCOTS presenter Edith Bowman has been accused of breaching BBC impartiality rules after alleging that Boris Johnson is guilty of corruption.
She posted a series of tweets last week to her 250,000 followers criticising MSPs’ cross-examination of Nicola Sturgeon and calling for more focus on the ‘misuse of funds’ by the Prime Minister and the Conservative Party.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie has pledged to curb political outbursts on social media by the broadcaster’s presenters. Rebecca Ryan, director of campaign group Defund The BBC, said: ‘Edith Bowman’s aggressively pro-separatist tweets were unsurprising.
‘The BBC continually pushes an anti-Unionist narrative. Their arrogance and disregard for the people forced to fund them – if they watch any live TV – means they feel no qualms about wading into matters as serious as those involving a parliamentary inquiry. ‘Despite Tim Davie’s PR spin about addressing presenter bias on Twitter, this is just another example of the BBC taking public funds and delivering division and disappointment.’
Following Ms Sturgeon’s appearance last week in front of Holyrood’s Salmond inquiry, Nationalist MP Mhairi Black tweeted that the First Minister should not have been asked to apologise for previously praising her predecessor.
Ms Bowman, 47, replied: ‘Well said and if only the same amount of effort and reporting was addressed to @BorisJohnson & @Conservatives misuse of funds to line their mates’ pockets.’
While the First Minister was still being questioned, Left-wing commentator Yanis Varoufakis tweeted: ‘I have tried and tried to see what the real charge against Nicola Sturgeon is.
‘But for the life of me, I am failing to see anything beyond minor issues regarding who said what to whom in highly inconsequential meetings. Where? In a UK led by BJ [Boris Johnson]???’.
Ms Bowman, from Anstruther, Fife, shared the message along with the comment: ‘Exactly’.
She also retweeted a message from writer David Schneider on Thursday, accusing the Tory Party of double standards.
Later that evening, the latest episode of Ms Bowman’s BBC Four series Life Cinematic – heavily trailed by the corporation and her Twitter feed – was broadcast.
Last night, a spokesman for Ms Bowman, who has been a familiar face and voice on the BBC for two decades, said: ‘Edith is not a BBC employee so we will not be giving any lines on this.’
The BBC said Ms Bowman is a freelance presenter who works ‘occasionally’ for them so it would not intervene. But a spokesman added: ‘The BBC has repeatedly made clear we take impartiality very seriously. All our presenters are in the process of undertaking impartiality training.’
HALF OF VIEWERS COMPLAIN BBC IS BAD VALUE FOR MONEY
THE BBC licence fee came under fresh attack last night as a poll revealed that most people think it is now ‘bad value for money’.
Over a third of Britons also feel the Corporation is ‘too woke’, with almost half complaining that it is not in tune with people outside London.
Only last week, Media Minister John Whittingdale said the licence fee could be replaced by a subscription charge once everyone had access to high-speed broadband.
The latest survey, for the campaign group Defund The BBC, reveals widespread dissatisfaction with the licence fee, which will rise next month from £157.50 to £159.
The poll, conducted by Savanta ComRes, found that 51 per cent of British adults think the national broadcaster is bad value.
A third of people even describe it as ‘very bad value’, with only one in five respondents saying it is ‘good value’ and just eight per cent giving it a ‘very good’ rating.
To make matters worse for the national broadcaster, the survey found that 34 per cent of Britons believe the BBC focuses too much on ‘woke’ issues.
The poll found that the BBC was not in tune with people outside the capital, as almost half of Britons (47 per cent) believe it represents the views of those in London more than it reflects opinion in the rest of the country. Men and older adults were more likely than women and younger people to believe that ‘woke’ issues and Londoners’ views were over-represented.
In light of recent rows over stripping older pensioners of their right to a free licence, more than two thirds of the public insist non-payment of the fee should not be a criminal offence for the over-75s.
And 38 per cent of adults recommend decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee generally.
Rebecca Ryan, campaign director of Defund The BBC, said the ‘damning poll’ showed how out of touch the BBC was ‘with the vast majority of people in the UK’.
She said the Government must decriminalise non-payment of the fee and then ‘change the law that means you have to pay the licence fee in order to watch or record nonBBC live TV’.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘The BBC is the most used media brand in the country, with 91 per cent of adults coming to us each week.
‘We are committed to serving all parts of the UK with brilliant content our audiences love.’