Tory MPs' GB News shows broke rules on impartiality

Five episodes of GB News programmes presented by Tory MPs broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom has found.

- ALEX ROSS

Two episodes of Jacob Rees-Mogg's State of the Nation, two of Friday Morning with Esther And Philip, and one of Saturday Morning with Esther And Philip, broadcast in May and June 2023, broke impartiality rules, Ofcom said.

It comes six months after the regulator found an episode of GB News's The Live Desk, aired in July 2023, broke the same rules.

And earlier this month, the channel was rapped by Ofcom after it ruled misogynistic comments made by Laurence Fox on his show had broken broadcasting rules that protect “viewers from offensive content”.

Ofcom has warned that further breaches by GB News could result in a statutory sanction, which range from a direction not to reuse the content, to revoking a broadcaster’s licence. Broadcasting code states that news, in whatever form, must be presented with due impartiality – and that a politician cannot be a newsreader, news interviewer or news reporter unless, exceptionally, there is editorial justification.

But following its investigation into the five GB News episodes, Ofcom said: “We found that host politicians acted as newsreaders, news interviewers or news reporters in sequences which clearly constituted news – including reporting breaking news events – without exceptional justification. News was, therefore, not presented with due impartiality.”

Ofcom said politicians play a “partial role in society”, and news content presented by them is “likely to be viewed by audiences in light of that perceived bias”. The watchdog added: “In our view, the use of politicians to present the news risks undermining the integrity and credibility of regulated broadcast news.”