Latest news with #StuartAndrew
Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Times
BBC inquiry into Gaza documentary was a whitewash, MP claims
The BBC's internal investigation into its controversial Hamas documentary was a 'whitewash', the shadow culture secretary has said. Stuart Andrew has written to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, outlining concerns that five issues were overlooked by the inquiry conducted by the corporation's director of editorial complaints and reviews. On Monday, Peter Johnston ruled that the broadcaster breached editorial guidelines by failing to give audiences the 'critical information' that the narrator of Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, Abdullah al-Yazouri, was the son of a Hamas minister. However, he said that no impartiality rules had been broken. 'The findings of this report, and more notably the omissions and assumptions on which those findings rest, cast significant doubt on the impartiality of the review process and raise fundamental questions about whether the BBC should be allowed to mark its own homework in matters of such gravity,' Andrew said.
The Sun
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
BBC faces fresh fury after news chief accused of ‘ignorant and dangerous' portrayal of Hamas
THE BBC's news chief was last night accused of an 'ignorant and dangerous' portrayal of Hamas. Deborah Turness said the group's politicians were separate to its military wing — despite the government insisting it was a single terrorist organisation. She came under renewed criticism following the scandal engulfing the broadcaster over its Gaza documentary that breached accuracy rules. The programme How To Survive A Warzone, made by an independent production company, failed to declare the child narrator Abdullah was the son of a senior Hamas official. Ms Turness, the CEO of BBC News, apologised publicly on Monday after an investigation held the corporation partly responsible for the oversight. Addressing the row in an all-staff call, the executive said: 'It's really important that we are clear that Abdullah's father was the deputy agricultural minister, and therefore was a member of the Hamas-run government, which is different to being part of the military wing of Hamas. 'Externally, it's often simplified that he was in Hamas and it's an important point of detail we need to continually remind people of the difference.' But, while previously differentiated, the UK government now says that 'Hamas is a complex but single terrorist organisation'. Tory Shadow Culture Secretary Stuart Andrew said Ms Turness's comment 'undermines any apologies made by the corporation'. Former head of BBC Television Danny Cohen said: 'This is staggering. It is both ignorant and dangerous and is further evidence of why so many British Jews do not feel they can trust the BBC.' Labour peer Lord Austin said: 'Deborah Turness presided over this mess and still tries to defend the BBC's colossal mistakes. Surely her position is untenable.' The BBC said: 'Deborah Turness was answering a question about how we described the father of the narrator in our Warzone film. She did not imply that Hamas are not a single terrorist organisation.'
Western Telegraph
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
Nandy demands ‘accountability at highest levels' after Bob Vylan broadcast
Lisa Nandy told the Commons she has heard from the BBC but was 'not satisfied with the response'. Punk duo Bob Vylan led chants of 'death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)' during their Worthy Farm set last weekend, and face an investigation by Avon and Somerset Police. London's Metropolitan Police is also investigating the two Bobs – who perform using the aliases Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan – for allegedly making similar comments at Alexandra Palace in May. Conservative shadow culture secretary Stuart Andrew told the Commons: 'Given the BBC are seemingly able to pull live broadcasts when things go wrong at football matches, for example, it's extraordinary that this didn't happen on this occasion. 'Can the Secretary of State update the House on the discussions she's had with the BBC, and why the same thing didn't happen on this occasion? Lisa Nandy said she expects more answers from the BBC 'to be forthcoming imminently' (PA) 'What due diligence was carried out by them about the acts that were performing? 'And given as she's said we're still waiting for a response to the previous Hamas documentary, is she satisfied with those conversations she's had and the urgency that the organisation are taking?' Ms Nandy replied: 'No, the answer is that I'm not satisfied with the response that I've had.' The Culture Secretary previously made a ministerial statement in the Commons on Monday, when she said 'it should have been foreseeable that there would be problems with broadcasts'. She told MPs then that she wanted 'rapid action to make sure this cannot happen again'. In Thursday's update, Ms Nandy told MPs: 'I have received a reply to the very many questions that were raised by colleagues on all sides. 'I'm not satisfied with that, and I have gone back to the BBC leadership to ask for further information, in particular, as he mentioned, about the failure to pull the live feed, about the due diligence that was done prior to deciding to screen this act, and also about the level of senior oversight that took place in the BBC during the Glastonbury weekend. Just as artists can't hide behind artistic expression for vile commentary, neither can the BBC hide behind independence for accountability Stuart Andrew, shadow culture secretary 'I think the BBC leadership will hear and have heard the strength of feeling in this House about this, and I expect further answers to be forthcoming imminently.' The corporation removed the documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone from its online iPlayer platform in February after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. In a follow-up question, Mr Andrew said: 'I'm as disappointed as she is that they haven't been able to come back with even basic facts. 'There were hundreds of BBC staff there and not being able to identify who ultimately had the final decision on whether to broadcast or not is not acceptable, and I think the chairman (Samir Shah) needs to inform her as a matter of urgency who that was and what action they are going to take. 'While I absolutely understand the independence of the BBC, just as artists can't hide behind artistic expression for vile commentary, neither can the BBC hide behind independence for accountability, and I hope she knows she has the full support of this side of the House as she pushes them for clarity.' Ms Nandy said she was 'grateful' that Mr Andrew had made 'the very important distinction between independence and accountability'. She continued: 'Given the seriousness of what happened – and particularly we heard in the House and I was able to bring to the House the absolute shocking stories of the impact that this has had on the Jewish community in this country – given the seriousness of this, I would expect there to be accountability at the highest levels.'
Telegraph
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
BBC must reveal if money for axed Gaza film ‘ended up in the hands of Hamas'
BBC bosses are under pressure to establish whether licence payers' cash used to make a cancelled Gaza documentary ended up in the hands of Hamas. MPs and peers said the broadcaster must launch an investigation into the money spent on commissioning the film Gaza: Doctors Under Attack. The show was pulled from the schedules on Friday after its director branded Israel 'a rogue state that's committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing'. It is the second documentary about Gaza that the BBC has been forced to cancel, amid accusations that it is 'biased' against Israel in its reporting. The corporation was forced to apologise in February after it aired a 'propaganda' film that was narrated by the son of a leading Hamas minister. In light of that controversy it had already delayed the planned release of Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, and has now said it will not be shown at all. In a statement, the BBC said it had cancelled the show because it ' risked creating a perception of partiality ' about its coverage of Israel. Stuart Andrew, the shadow culture secretary, said the decision ' raises yet more serious questions over its coverage of events in Gaza'. 'The BBC must provide a full accounting of how it ended up commissioning the abandoned documentary and whether any money ended up in the bloody hands of Hamas terrorists during the production process,' he said. Lord Austin, a former Labour MP, said that staff responsible for commissioning the cancelled documentary should face disciplinary action if any wrongdoing took place. 'What we need to know is whether the makers of this programme paid Hamas terrorists or anyone linked to them,' he said. Call for 'urgent investigation' 'There must now be another urgent investigation to find out what has happened. When is the BBC going to start sacking those responsible for these appalling failures?' Baroness Deech, a crossbench peer, added: 'An urgent investigation is needed to assure the British public that its licence fee hasn't ended up in the hands of Hamas terrorists. 'Questions must be urgently answered. What went wrong at the BBC, whether Hamas received money for granting access to Hamas-run hospitals, and whether the national broadcaster has breached counter-terrorism legislation by funding a proscribed terror group.' The decision to pull the documentary came after Ramita Navai, its director, appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today programme to discuss it. She said: 'Israel has become a rogue state that's committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing and mass-murdering Palestinians'. Last month, a letter signed by 600 people, including Harriet Walter, Miriam Margolyes, Maxine Peake and Juliet Stevenson, called for the release of the film. In a statement on Friday, the BBC said: 'For some weeks, the BBC has been working... to find a way to tell the stories of these doctors on our platforms. 'Yesterday, it became apparent that we have reached the end of the road with these discussions. 'We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC. 'Impartiality is a core principle of BBC News. It is one of the reasons that we are the world's most trusted broadcaster.' Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is the second film to have been pulled by the BBC, coming after controversy over Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. That programme, created by production company Hoyo, was aired, before being removed from the BBC's iPlayer amid huge controversy. BBC bosses apologised after it emerged a major contributor was the son of Ayman Alyazouri, a Hamas minister, which was not disclosed to viewers. The corporation insisted it was not aware of the Hamas link, but Hoyo later claimed it was. A BBC spokesman said: 'We can confirm that no money spent on this documentary has been paid to Hamas. As we said yesterday, production of the documentary was paused in April, and any film made will not be a BBC film.'
Telegraph
07-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Trump's tariffs could push up BBC licence fee, Tories warn
Trump's proposed 100pc tariff on foreign films could push up the cost of the BBC licence fee, the shadow culture secretary has warned. The UK government said it was in 'active discussions' with the White House after the US president suggested he may apply tariffs to foreign-made films to revive America's movie industry. The move could cripple the revenue of BBC Studios, the corporation's commercial arm, which last year made £454m by selling productions to the American market, according to its annual report. Some of its most notable exports include Doctor Who and David Attenborough's Frozen Planet films. It is unclear whether Trump's tariffs will be applied solely to films or also television series. Either way, shadow culture secretary, Stuart Andrew, warned the loss of income could leave British licence fee payers footing the bill. In an urgent question to the Government on Wednesday, he asked: 'What assessment have they made on the potential drastic cut in the BBC Studios profits, that sells into the US market, could have on the licence fee?' Sir Chris Byrant, the culture minister, said in response that Labour was 'already in active discussions with the top of the US administration on this subject'. More than £1.8bn was made by BBC Studios last year by selling its popular British film and television productions to audiences around the world, down from £2.1bn in 2023. The money is a lifeline for the corporation as more viewers cancel their licence fees and turn to streaming services like Netflix instead. When asked by The Telegraph how it planned to deal with the impact of the tariffs should they come into effect, the BBC declined to comment. Mr Andrew said it was proof Labour should have begun trade negotiations with President Trump sooner. He told The Telegraph: 'They wasted five months when they could have been negotiating. They need to highlight [to President Trump] that tariffs will hurt US businesses as they have invested in UK facilities.' The Government is racing to seal a trade deal with President Trump to reduce the impact of his tariff regime – under which UK exporters will pay a blanket 10pc tariff. Last month, Trump initiated a 90-day pause before the regime was implemented. On Tuesday, it was reported Angelina Jolie's father, Jon Voight, had advised the White House to include films produced outside of the US in its tariff war in a bid to save Hollywood. However, the President appeared to soften his stance late on Tuesday, telling CNBC: 'I'm not looking to hurt the industry, I want to help the industry.' Experts said it may spark a total overhaul of the £174.50 annual licence fee scheme. Patrick Barwise, emeritus professor of management and marketing at London Business School, said: 'This will further feed into a sense that it is going to damage BBC Studios ability to generate revenue from [the US] market. 'The contributions from BBC Studios are used to subsidise the licence free. My hunch is that we'll end up with a different model from the licence fee.' He added it was 'another blow on top of the massive funding cuts since 2010. This is going to hit its exports but also it will hit other UK studios. It hits the whole distribution system and it will increase costs'. The BBC's charter, which authorises it to administer the licence fee to generate profit, is due to end in 2027, with discussions between the corporation and the Government starting this year and its renewal thereafter. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, previously criticised the model as 'unenforceable'. A government spokesman said: 'Talks on an economic deal between the US and the UK are ongoing – but we are not going to provide a running commentary on the details of live discussions or set any timelines because it is not in the national interest. 'We will continue to take a calm and steady approach to talks and aim to find a resolution to help ease the pressure on UK businesses and consumers.'
