‘Sneering’ BBC fails to reflect ordinary people, says minister

THE BBC has been guilty of ‘sneering’ at the use of the Union Jack and failing to represent ordinary people, the Culture Secretary said yesterday.

Oliver Dowden’s comments come after two BBC Breakfast journalists joked about the use of the national flag, prompting complaints from viewers.

‘They need to have genuine impartiality. That is to say the impartiality can’t be confined to the newsroom. It needs to be throughout all of their output and it should reflect all different perspectives in the UK,’ Mr Dowden told Times Radio.

He said the BBC needs to reflect ‘not just the Brightons and the Bristols and the Hackneys of this world but also the Leeds and the Dudleys and the Borehamwoods’.

He added: ‘I think sometimes comments like we saw in that [BBC Breakfast] interview begin to stray from banter into sneering against attitudes that are held by many people in this country.’

Last week Mr Dowden ordered all Government buildings to fly the Union Jack every day. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has also written to all councils in England in a bid to encourage them to hoist the flag on their buildings.