Complaint
A listener complained about an interview with the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, suggesting it showed bias when set alongside an interview with a Labour health minister the previous day. The ECU considered whether the interview met the standards for impartiality set out in the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines.
Outcome
Whilst the Guidelines require consistency, they do not require interviews on different subjects and on different occasions to be identical in their approach. In this instance one interview was on the subject of immigration and grooming gangs and the other was about a policy announcement on health and social care. In the ECU’s judgement each was appropriately challenging in the light of its subject and occasion and there was no departure from due impartiality.
Not Upheld