Five episodes of GB News programmes presented by Tory MPs found to have broken Ofcom rules
Five episodes of GB News programmes that were presented by Tory MPs have been found by Ofcom to have breached impartiality rules.
The watchdog’s probe examined two shows presented by former House of Commons leader Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, and three jointly hosted by former pensions secretary Esther McVey and her husband – backbencher Philip Davies.
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Ofcom said that under the Broadcasting Code, news must be presented with due impartiality and “a politician cannot be a newsreader, news interviewer or news reporter unless, exceptionally, there is editorial justification”.
It found there was no “exceptional justification” in the five cases they investigated and the news was “therefore not presented with due impartiality”.
GB News has now been put on notice that it could face a statuary sanction if it breaches the rules again, which could involve a financial penalty or having its licence suspended or revoked.
The watchdog said: “We found that two episodes of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s State Of The Nation, two episodes of Friday Morning With Esther And Phil, and one episode of Saturday Morning With Esther And Phil, broadcast during May and June 2023, failed to comply with Rules 5.1 and 5.3 of the Broadcasting Code.”
Esther McVey and Philip Davies. Pic: PA
It added: “Politicians have an inherently partial role in society and news content presented by them is likely to be viewed by audiences in light of that perceived bias.
“In our view, the use of politicians to present the news risks undermining the integrity and credibility of regulated broadcast news.”
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Ms McVey resigned from her role in GB News in November after she was handed a ministerial position in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet.
A month earlier, an Ofcom investigation had found she and her husband broke impartiality rules in an interview they had done with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, which “failed to… give due weight to an appropriately wide range of significant views”.
While GB News has been found to have breached other impartiality codes, Ofcom noted that this is the first breach of 5.1 and 5.3.
It said that since opening the investigation into the five shows, “there has only been one further programme which has raised issues warranting investigation under these rules”.
Warning of a punishment if further breaches are found, Ofcom said: “We are clear, however, that GB News is put on notice that any repeated breaches of Rules 5.1 and 5.3 may result in the imposition of a statutory sanction.”
Statuary sanctions Ofcom can impose include a financial penalty or the shortening, suspending or revoking of a licence.
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Nigel Farage has successfully exploited the Commons recess to “grab the mic” and “dominate” the agenda, Harriet Harman has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour peer said that the Reform UK leader has been able to “get his voice heard” while government was not in “full swing”.
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Mr Farage used a speech this week to set himself, rather than Kemi Badenoch’s Tories, up as the main opposition to Sir Keir Starmer at the next election.
The prime minister responded on Thursday with a speech attacking the Clacton MP.
Baroness Harman said: “It’s slightly different between opposition and government because in government, the ministers have to be there the whole time.
“They’ve got to be putting legislation through and they kind of hold the mic.
“They can dominate the news media with the announcements they’re making and with the bills they’re introducing, and it’s quite hard for the opposition to get a hearing whilst the government is in full swing.
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“What we used to do when we were in opposition before 1997 is that as soon as there was a bank holiday and the House was not sitting, as soon as the half-term or the summer recess, we would be on an absolute war footing and dominate the airwaves because that was our opportunity.
“And I think that’s a bit of what Farage has done this week,” Harman added.
“Basically, Farage can dominate the media agenda.”
She went on: “He’s kind of stepped forward, and he’s using this moment of the House not sitting in order to actually get his voice heard.
“It’s sensible for the opposition to take the opportunity of when the House is not sitting to kind of grab the mic and that is what Nigel Farage has done.”
But Baroness Harman said it “doesn’t seem to be what Kemi Badenoch’s doing”.
She explained that the embattled leader “doesn’t seem to be grabbing the mic like Nigel Farage has” during recess, and added that “there’s greater opportunity for the opposition”.
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