MPs condemn BBC’s biased coverage
BBC programmes about the fall-out from the EU referendum have been ‘heavily biased’ against Leave campaigners, MPs claimed last night.
An analysis of a series of shows on Radio 4 found that listeners were two and a half times more likely to hear a pro-EU speaker than an anti-EU one.
A group of MPs and peers has written to Lord Hall, the BBC director general, to protest at the coverage.
They said: ‘Analysis proves that the BBC is not hosting arguments from the Leave camp, nor is it interrogating Remainers, in anything like a balanced way.
‘Your coverage is heavily biased in favour of those who wish to water down or even reverse the referendum decision.’
The letter is signed by Tory MPs Philip Davies and Philip Hollobone, Labour’s Kate Hoey, Conservative MEP Dan Hannan and former Ukip leader Lord Pearson.
They quote analysis by the pressure group News-Watch, which found that Radio 4’s Brexit coverage since the referendum has been heavily weighted against the Leave side.
They looked at the ‘Brexit Collection’, a series of 31 programmes, originally broadcast on Radio 4, and posted by the BBC on its iPlayer website. Of 212 speakers, 123 were pro-Remain, while only 49 spoke in favour of Leave. Another 40 were neutral. It meant that listeners were more than twice as likely to hear a pro-EU speaker as one with an antiEU bias.
The MPs’ letter said: ‘ Our experience of complaining about individual programmes does not encourage us to try again.
‘We complained about Newsnight on the evening of David Cameron’s Bloomberg speech, which fielded 18 Europhiles against one Eurosceptic, and your complaints procedure managed to find that it was a balanced programme. Any new complaints system will not work unless it is independent of the BBC, obviously.’
It added: ‘ We are still complaining about your whole editorial line on your post referendum coverage, and we are supported by dozens of News-Watch transcripts.
‘We fear these show that the BBC is undermining the Government’s attempt to get a settlement with Brussels which is in accordance with the wishes of a majority of the British people, and in the national interest.’
Earlier this week, the BBC was accused of dishing out a ‘constant stream of negativity’ in its post-referendum Brexit coverage.
Iain Duncan Smith and other Tory MPs crit- icised the corporation over how it has reported economic news since the referendum and the Government’s approach to Brexit negotiations.
Backbench Conservative MP and Leave campaigner Peter Bone called on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to investigate the broadcaster over what he called its ‘strong bias’ against quitting the EU. The row was reignited after a senior BBC reporter predicted a further fall in the pound during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Assistant political editor Norman Smith wrote on Twitter: ‘Stand by for another tumble on the pound following Theresa May’s remarks on the single market.’
The BBC rejected the criticisms from MPs, insisting coverage since the referendum in June has been ‘responsible and impartial’.
Last week Boris Johnson hit out at the corporation over its ‘shamelessly anti-Brexit’ coverage. The Foreign Secretary told delegates at the Tory party conference that the way the BBC had covered the outcome of the vote was ‘infuriating’.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘BBC news is covering events following the referendum vote and the impact of sterling’s revaluation in a responsible and impartial way.
‘We have reported on the upsides as well as downsides and other key economic indicators, like the FTSE’s strength, consumer confidence and manufacturing and services sectors rebounding.’ ÷ The Royal Family will play a significant part in the UK’s post Brexit-vote diplomacy strategy, the Foreign Office said yesterday.
A senior mandarin said visits by senior royals would be a crucial part of Britain’s policy of ‘soft power’, benefiting the UK’s relationships commercially and diplomatically. The announcement comes after Clarence House recently revealed details of a week-long visit to the Gulf States of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain next month by Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall.