Croxall back on BBC after ‘glee’ over Tory troubles breached rules
MARTINE CROXALL, the BBC news presenter, will return to the air for the first time in almost two weeks after bosses ruled she had breached the company’s impartiality rules with her “gleeful” coverage of Tory travails.
Croxall, 53, was taken off air following claims she showed bias after Boris Johnson pulled out of the leadership contest, which was won by Rishi Sunak. During her introduction to the Sunday night edition of The Papers on Oct 23, in which members of the press and experts look at how the main stories of the day were covered, she said: “Well this is all very exciting, isn’t it?” She added: “Am I allowed to be this gleeful? Well, I am.”
The BBC has ruled that “several remarks and reactions” made by the presenter caused a “significant risk” that the audience could believe “opinions were being expressed” on the Conservative leadership contest.
The Daily Telegraph understands Ms Croxall’s 11-day hiatus will come to an end today when she returns to duties, but it appears she has been barred from presenting The Papers for the foreseeable future. A BBC source said: “This is being handled by our internal process and we work with staff to make sure they follow the impartiality rules … I shouldn’t expect to see her on The Papers immediately.”
The programme started around 90 minutes after Mr Johnson pulled out of the Tory leadership race.
Croxall also remarked: “It’s all a little bit, you know, lastminute.com isn’t it? Because all the front pages were probably out of date by the time we received them.” After reviewing viewers’ complaints, the BBC said yesterday: “In this programme several remarks and reactions from the presenter caused a significant risk that the audience could believe opinions were being expressed on the Conservative leadership contest.
“In addition, there was insufficient counter and challenge to some of the opinions expressed by guests on the programme.
“Taken together, this meant that this edition of The Papers did not meet our editorial standards, as it gave the audience the opportunity to infer an editorial position on the part of the BBC.”
The episode also saw Ms Croxall suggest that her comments could have breached BBC guidelines.
Responding to a guest’s joke aimed at Mr Johnson, she said: “I shouldn’t probably (laugh). I’m probably breaking some terrible due impartiality rule by giggling.”
Ms Croxall has been contacted for comment.