MPS round on Ofcom over inaction after Russian TV crew’s Salisbury hospital breach
Broadcasting regulator says it has received no complaints but is accused of ‘sitting on its hands’
BRITAIN’S broadcasting regulator was accused by MPS of “sitting on its hands” last night as it emerged that it was not investigating a Russian broadcaster whose camera crew was ejected from an NHS hospital while attempting to track down the victims of the nerve agent attack in Salisbury.
Ofcom told The Daily Telegraph that no action had been taken in relation to REN TV, partly because it had received no formal complaints. This newspaper disclosed last month that REN TV has been broadcasting pro-kremlin propaganda in Baltic states using licences provided by Ofcom, which are registered to an office in central London.
The broadcasts are causing serious concerns among Britain’s allies in neighbouring countries to Russia, with one senior diplomat warning of a “strong disinformation campaign”.
Last Thursday, Salisbury District Hospital publicly condemned what it described as “appalling behaviour” by REN TV, accusing it of trespassing and harassing staff in the middle of the night “with no warning and without asking for any permission”.
Footage broadcast by the channel showed a REN TV reporter making an apparent attempt to undermine the Government’s claims that Russia was behind an assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal, the former spy, and his daughter Yulia, as he wandered through the corridors of the building.
Last night Damian Collins, the chairman of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, said: “This is a serious issue that should be investigated. I will be raising this with Ofcom when they appear in front of the select committee next month as part of our disinformation inquiry.”
Bob Seely, a former soldier and Conservative
member of the foreign affairs select committee, said: “The regulator should clearly investigate. It is absolutely appalling that they are barging into a hospital like that, and if a hospital is throwing people out you shouldn’t have Ofcom sitting on its hands waiting to receive a complaint.”
John Glen, the Salisbury MP and a Treasury minister, said: “It’s pretty clear to me that intruding into Salisbury hospital without invitation breaches common decency and respect for sick patients undergoing treatment.
“I would urge Ofcom to reflect on what happened and the circumstances around it and examine whether REN TV should have sanctions applied.”
Simon Hart, a Conservative member of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, said it looked like an attempt by Ofcom “to keep out of a
difficult situation, which is the opposite of what a regulator should be doing”.
Earlier this month, The Telegraph revealed that REN TV was one of two Ofcom-licensed Russian-language stations identified by EU officials as spreading “conspiracies” about “foreign politicians”. EU regulations currently allow broadcasters to transmit throughout the EU if they are registered in just one member state.
Ofcom is reviewing the licences of Russia Today, the Kremlin-backed channel that broadcasts in the UK, following concerns about its reports.
Ofcom said it had “not had any complaints” about the TV crew’s intrusion into Salisbury hospital and “it’s not yet clear whether this footage was broadcast by any Ofcom-licensed broadcaster”.