Complaint
A viewer complained it was inaccurate for Carla Denyer, the co-leader of the Green Party, to claim in an interview on the programme that “thousands of people are dying prematurely every year because of air pollution”. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The complainant argued that that only one person had had “air pollution” listed on their death certificate since 2001. However the ECU noted that Ms Denyer’s statement, made during an interview with the programme’s political editor, was qualified by the use of the word “prematurely” and that the weight of scientific evidence supported the view air pollution contributes to a range of adverse health conditions such as stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory infections.
Not Upheld