Maitlis comments did not meet impartiality standards, says BBC

THE BBC has said that an introduction to Newsnight, which discussed the Dominic Cummings row, “did not meet our standards of due impartiality”.

Opening Tuesday’s show, host Emily Maitlis said the Prime Minister’s chief adviser had “broken the rules” and “the country can see that, and it’s shocked the Government cannot”.

The BBC yesterday said that staff had been “reminded of the guidelines” around impartiality following the broadcast.

In the Newsnight opening, Ms Maitlis said: “The longer Ministers and the Prime Minister tell us he worked within (the rules), the more angry the response to this scandal is likely to be. He was the man, remember, who always got the public mood, who tagged the lazy label of elite on those who disagreed. He should understand that public mood now – one of fury, contempt and anguish.”

EMILY MAITLIS: Said Dominic Cummings ‘should understand that public mood now – one of fury, contempt and anguish’.

The BBC statement added: “We’ve reviewed the entirety of last night’s Newsnight, including the opening section, and while we believe the programme contained fair, reasonable and rigorous journalism, we feel that we should have done more to make clear the introduction was a summary of the questions we would examine, with all the accompanying

evidence, in the rest of the programme. As it was, we believe the introduction we broadcast did not meet our standards of due impartiality.”

Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan branded the BBC “utterly disgraceful”, adding that the broadcaster was “chucking one of its best journalists under the bus for telling the truth”.

SIXTH-FORM STUDENTS across Yorkshire are distributing thousands of face shields for the NHS in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Teams of students from schools and colleges have teamed up with the University of Hull and started distributing more than 13,000 face shields to help fulfil the vital NHS demand for personal protective equipment (PPE).

The work is part of the university’s collaboration project to produce face shields to support the NHS and other organisations in preventing the spread of Covid-19.

Dr Fiona Walkley, from the University of Hull, who is helping co-ordinate the project, said the work started to identify and supply organisations that are reporting difficulties in accessing PPE stock from their normal suppliers.