Mordaunt suggests training for BBC staff amid concern over Israel-Hamas coverage
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said she hopes broadcaster will “reflect on what has happened over the last few weeks” after another MP claimed the “anti-Israel bile and bias is there for all to see”.
A Cabinet minister has suggested the BBC should consider further training for staff amid concerns over its coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said she hopes the broadcaster will “reflect on what has happened over the last few weeks” after a Conservative colleague claimed the “anti-Israel bile and bias is there for all to see”.
Speaking at business questions, Ms Mordaunt told former minister Sir Michael Ellis: “I think that we all want our national broadcaster to be the best in the world and we want its editorial standards, its policies and those who work for it to be the best in the world.
“Whilst again they are operationally independent, I hope they will reflect on what has happened over the last few weeks and look at what they can do, whether it is training and what is happening with their editorial teams and also those that they have working for them in the field, to ensure the British public can rely on the fact that they are getting impartial, good advice that is presented with the highest journalistic standards.
“The BBC is usually very good at these sorts of things but I think there are questions that I certainly, as a licence fee-payer, would want to be answered in this respect.”
Sir Michael, MP for Northampton North, earlier asked: “Can we have a debate about impartiality at the BBC?
“Surely we cannot have a situation, as described in today’s Daily Telegraph, where BBC presenters use their on-air status to espouse fake news about Israel and make scurrilous suggestions about the Prime Minister’s motivations.
“The Telegraph today has published a well-researched piece of journalism, having trawled through social media of some BBC journalists and personnel, and the anti-Israel bile and bias is there for all to see.
“What are we going to do about the BBC?”
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