Complaint
A listener complained that Nick Robinson, interviewing the Prime Minister during the Labour Party Conference, had expressed a personal view to the effect that the Government’s support for Israel was immoral. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The complaint was prompted by this question: “What do you say to the thousands in your party, some protesting outside this party conference, who say, when will he have the moral courage to stand up to Israel, simply to say, enough, too many thousands are dying. Britain should be clear whose side it’s on, and it shouldn’t be Israel’s”. In the ECU’s view, this was clearly an invitation to the Prime Minister to address a significant strand of Labour Party opinion, not an expression of Mr Robinson’s own view.
Not upheld