We are not biased against Brexit, BBC news boss tells MPs
THE BBC’s news chief refused to accept complaints of antiBrexit bias during showdown talks with Eurosceptic MPs, it was claimed last night.
A cross-party group of pro-Leave politicians met James Harding to complain about distorted coverage and present him with a dossier of evidence.
But the BBC’s director of news rejected the claims outright and dismissed their concerns, the MPs said.
One of the politicians at the meeting told the Mail: ‘It was a complete and utter waste of time.
‘If you listen to James Harding, the BBC has never made a mistake in its life, and its coverage is perfect. They don’t accept there’s a problem.
‘Their coverage is unquestionably biased. We just asked them to be evenhanded, as we don’t think they are being. We don’t think presenters can contain their personal opinions or their London- centric, metropolitan views of the world.’
Another of those who attended the meeting said that the BBC’s response had been ‘really unsatisfactory’.
The summit, which was held at BBC offices in London on Tuesday, was attended by a group of pro-Leave MPs from Labour, the Conservatives and other parties.
The delegation included Labour’s Kate Hoey and Kelvin Hopkins, Conservatives Philip Davies, Philip Hollobone and Julian Knight, and Ian Paisley Jr from the DUP. They accused the Corporation of being too pessimistic about leaving the EU, failing to show the upsides of Brexit in its news and current affairs coverage, and giving undue prominence to Remainers.
The MPs presented an analysis of shows on BBC Radio 4 last year, which found listeners were two-and-a-half times more likely to hear a pro-EU speaker than an anti-EU one.
The politicians are now seeking a new code of practice or guidelines to ensure impartiality in the BBC’s news coverage during Brexit negotiations.
The analysis carried out by the News-Watch pressure group – which the Corporation disputes – examined the business news on Radio 4’ s flagship Today programme for the six months after the referendum.
It found that more than half of the 366 speakers had been negative about the impact of the vote to leave the EU, while only 16 per cent expressed pro-Brexit views or saw the post-referendum outlook as positive. And just ten guests were supportive of withdrawal.
The pressure group also analysed Radio 4’ s Brexit Collection of referendumrelated output.
It found that Brexit ‘came under sustained negative attack’. Just 23 per cent of contributors were in favour of leav- ing, compared with 58 per cent for staying in the EU.
Supporters of Leave say that stricter rules in force during the referendum campaign forced the BBC to show true impartiality, and praised the broadcaster’s coverage in the run-up to the vote in June last year.
But many argue that since then the Corporation has been too negative about Britain’s prospects outside the EU.
The News-Watch analysis suggests that there has been ‘little examination’ of the UK’s bargaining position, and the BBC views the negotiations largely through Brussels’ eyes.
It also found the Corporation assumes that reducing immigration will damage the economy and negotiations will be complex and painful, while the BBC also fails to examine the nega- tive aspects of being in the EU.
Presenters are accused of failing to recognise that more than 80 per cent of voters backed pro-Brexit parties during the election.
Last month Cabinet member Andrea Leadsom, who is the Leader of the Commons, said: ‘It would be helpful if broadcasters were willing to be a bit patriotic.
‘The country took a decision, this government is determined to deliver on that decision.’
A spokesman for BBC News said: ‘This was a meeting with a cross-party group of MPs supporting Brexit.
‘ BBC News listens to and reflects all points of view and remains committed to covering developments in a fair and impartial manner.’
‘Metropolitan view of the world’