The election is a big test for BBC ‘impartiality’

I STRONGLY support the BBC, but only on condition that it reports the news and current affairs impartially. Yet too often it fails. For many years, its approach to the EU was hopelessly biased in favour of the Brussels Establishment, and I now fear it is being deeply unfair to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Yesterday, Nick Robinson, the veteran Westminster-watcher and presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme, posted a Tweet that was critical of Mr Corbyn. He said he is ‘long on passion and short on details. Story of his life’. This was out of order. I’m staggered that Robinson has not withdrawn his Tweet or that his bosses haven’t told him to apologise. I sense a pattern here. A few months ago, political editor Laura Kuenssberg was censured by the BBC’s governing body for inaccurately representing the Labour leader’s views on a shoot-to-kill policy here in the aftermath of terror attacks in Paris. Subsequently, the BBC’s director of news, James Harding, supported her, making it plain he disagreed with the regulator’s ruling. To compound matters, Robinson said that after the referendum vote for Brexit, broadcasters’ duty to ‘broadly balance’ the views of both sides of the argument had ended. He was accused of saying the BBC had no responsibility to be even-handed over Brexit. I am a Tory and can’t easily imagine circumstances where I would vote for Jeremy Corbyn. But if British democracy means anything, it means fair play during elections. Crucially, this must be adhered to by the BBC.