BBC host responds after his ‘murders’ remark

BBC presenter Nick Robinson has said he “should have been clearer” when describing Israeli attacks in Gaza as “murders” that it was not his view or that of the corporation.

Robinson addressed the pushback he received on words he used when interviewing the Foreign Secretary on yesterday’s BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

During the show, he questioned Lord David Cameron on Britain’s position after Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend.

Following the interview, Robinson wrote on X: “There’s been some controversy about words I used when I was interviewing the Foreign Secretary @David_ Cameron on @bbcr4today about Israel this morning.

“My final question was about the perceived ‘morality’ of the government’s position – in particular the ‘risk’ that their position could ‘appear’ to look like active support for Israel when it is under attack but nothing other than words ‘when Israel attacks or murders tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians’.

“I should have been clearer that I was not expressing my own view, let alone that of the BBC when I used the words ‘murders’.

“In this 15-minute long interview I asked the Foreign Secretary why ministers had supported Israel militarily; why they didn’t go further & support Israel in confronting Iran; why they weren’t tougher in confronting Israel over Gaza and ended with that question about the perceived ‘morality’ and the ‘risk’ of how the government’s position ‘appears’.

“It was a lengthy and detailed exploration of the policy choices made by the government.”

After the interview aired, Conservative MP Theresa Villiers branded Robinson’s words “shocking bias” in an interview with The Sun.