Yesterday a Labour MP wrote a letter to Tim Davie CEO of BBC Worldwide to complain about fake news. His specific complaint regards a news item on 7th May this year.
During an interview with the PM it is claimed Boris Johnson made three statements that were ‘demonstrably false.’
Johnson claimed that ‘thanks to Brexit,’ the UK ‘have been able to go ahead with the freeport.’ He also claimed that ‘we were able to deal with the European SuperLeague’ and ‘we were able to do things a bit differently with the vaccine rollout.’
Justin Madders MP for Ellesmere Port & Neston writes that freeports have existed since 2012 in this country. The European Super League was to do with UEFA not the EU and that the vaccine rollout out comment has been confirmed by the Head of MHRA to be ‘incorrect.’
Madders continues: “These are not matters of interpretation of debate, they are not exaggerations or spin, they are barefaced lies and they are lies that any journalist ought to have challenged the moment they were said.”
He ends the letter with: “In the era of misinformation it is vital that a supposed trusted national broadcaster such as the BBC ensures that its broadcasts are accurate and that the highest-editorial standards are maintained.
“I look forward to your early response explaining how you have failed to follow your own guidelines on this occasion and confirmation that it is your intention to ensure blatant untruths are challenged and corrected in future.”
His letter comes after a video has been seen over 16 million times on social media, calling out the PM for lying to the public.
Madders tweeted: “Following @PeterStefanovi2 ‘s most recent deconstruction of the lies spouted by the Prime Minister, I have written to the BBC asking them to correct the record. In the era of fake news our national broadcaster should be more careful about what it shows.”
This morning the subject was discussed on GMB. Peter Stefanovic Tweeted: “Great to see my film exposing Boris Johnson’s relentless lying in Parliament, now approaching 17 million views, being discussed on @GMB this morning! Still silence from @BBCBreakfast who would rather discuss bird watching.”
Related: PM’s lies called out on GMB as Bercow says there is an ‘insouciant disregard for truth’
