Complaint
A listener complained that an item in the programme was misleading and biased in connection with the reasons for Jeremy Corbyn’s and Diane Abbott’s suspensions by the Labour Party. The presenter said “Since becoming leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer has suspended quite a few of its members - not least Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott. They and others went over charges of antisemitism”. The listener maintained that Mr Corbyn had in fact been suspended on the pretext of electoral failure (but proposed no alternative reason in Ms Abbott’s case). The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality.
Outcome
Although the motion about Mr Corbyn put to the party’s National Executive by Sir Keir Starmer referred to lack of electoral success, the ECU noted he had initially been suspended because of his response to the EHRC report on anti-Semitism and the Labour Party, when a party spokesman said “In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation. He has also had the whip removed from the Parliamentary Labour Party”. Subsequently Sir Keir said “Jeremy Corbyn’s actions in response to the EHRC report undermined and set back our work in restoring trust and confidence in the Labour Party’s ability to tackle antisemitism…In those circumstances, I have taken the decision not to restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn”. In relation to Diane Abbott, the ECU noted her suspension was on account of a letter she had written to The Observer in which she included Jewish people among those whom she described as not subject to racism in the way black people were, provoking claims of anti-Semitism. In view of these facts, the ECU concluded that there was no material inaccuracy in the presenter’s comments, and consequently no grounds for the allegation of bias arising from the supposed inaccuracy.
Not upheld