MORE ANTI-FARAGE BIAS: An earlier blog noted that the coverage by BBC1’s News at Ten of remarks made by Chancellor George Osborne in his high-profile interview by Andrew Neil, was sharply skewed to the ‘remain case’, and, indeed, that the editing out of Neil’s questions made his comments into what amounted to a party political broadcast. The earlier blog also observed that News at Ten’s treatment of the comments made by David Cameron in ITV’s programme in which both men put their respective referendum cases reduced Farage’s comments to an incoherent defence against claims that he was racist.
The unfairness to Nigel Farage – and thus to the ‘exit’ case – continued in Friday night’s News at Ten.
Farage was introduced by Fiona Bruce as having said he ‘stood by’ comments that dozens of sex attacks that happened on New Year’s eve could happen in the UK if current levels of immigration continue and had also responded to accusations of racism from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Carole Walker then observed, in introducing the sequence about the interview, that some on his Brexit side were uncomfortable with the Nigel Farage ‘tone and style’. She added: “Tonight just a sip of red wine ‘before the confrontation at least.” She said that it was no surprise that immigration ‘the big issue for the leave campaign’ was the focus’. In the clip that followed, Walker substituted her own commentary over some of the Andrew Neil questions.
NIGEL FARAGE UKIP Leader, Leave Campaign: The real point about this referendum is who makes the decisions. Do we have the ability to control the numbers that come to Britain or not?CW: Mr Farage said he wanted to get net migration down below 50,000 and he said this was not just about the economics.
NF: There is something called quality of life, and that means the ability to get your child into the local primary school. It means being able to get a GP appointment.
CW: He was less keen to talk about his controversial warning on LBC of sexual attacks like those in Cologne if we stay in the EU.
ANDREW NEIL: So you did predict Cologne style sex attacks.
NF: I, I may have done months ago but I chose . . .
AN: (interrupting) Well you did, we’ve just seen it.
NF: But I chose, but I chose in this referendum to try and make it a non-issue. Why? Because there are so many other things for us to talk about. However, is what I said at LBC wrong? Of course it’s not.
CW: But what about the criticism from the Archbishop of Canterbury, who accused him of legitimising racism?
NF: We have good archbishops and bad archbishops.
AN: Which category does he fall into?
NF: Given that he was talking specifically about what had appeared in a Sunday newspaper, he clearly had read a headline and not very careful words that I used.
CW: Nigel Farage insisted Britain would be safer outside the EU and dismissed opponents who said his vision was mean and divisive.
NF: None of them go out and meet ordinary people and perhaps in my case occasionally have a pint with them, and let me tell you, my vision is to put this country and the British people first, and for us to divorce ourselves from political union and to re-engage with the rest of the world. It is upbeat, it is optimistic, and do you know something, I think we’re going to win.
CW: Still two weeks to go. But there’s no disguising the upbeat mood in the Leave camp. Carole Walker, BBC News.
Overall, therefore, the Farage sequence contained two positive points from him about ‘exit’:
[blockquote]The real point about this referendum is who makes the decisions. Do we have the ability to control the numbers that come to Britain or not? … There is something called quality of life, and that means the ability to get your child into the local primary school. It means being able to get a GP appointment.
Then, at the end:
‘…my vision is to put this country and the British people first, and for us to divorce ourselves from political union and to re-engage with the rest of the world. It is upbeat, it is optimistic, and do you know something, I think we’re going to win.
Against this, however, the bulk of the interview was taken up with the BBC’s usual concerns about Farage – that he was racist and inept. The introduction again stressed that Farage was facing accusations that he was racist, that his own side was uncomfortable with him, that he liked a drink, and had made over-stated claims about the sex attacks in Cologne. Then, the bulk of the extract from the interview itself was from the sequence where he was asked about these points.
In other sections of the Neil interview, Farage dealt with topics such as economics, sovereignty and immigration. The extracts chosen by News at Ten included only two fleeting sections of these, in sharp contrast to the programme’s handling of the equivalent Osborne exchanges in which nearly all the sequences chosen were about the Chancellor’s positive points about the ‘remain’ case.
This, therefore was double bias: it contained the BBC’s usual negative approach to Farage on grounds of his racism and ineptness, and on top of that, the editors deliberately mostly ignored the parts of the Neil interview where he articulated the details of the ‘exit’ case.[/blockquote]
Full Transcript
BBC1 ‘News at Ten’ 10th June 2016, EU Referendum, 10.09pm
FIONA BRUCE: The Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who’s campaigning for the UK to leave the EU, has said he stands by his comments that the sex attacks on dozens of women that happened in Germany, on New Year’s Eve, could be repeated in the UK, if levels of EU migration continue. Mr Farage also responded to the subsequent accusation of racism from the Archbishop of Canterbury, saying, ‘We have good archbishops and bad archbishops.’ Here’s our political correspondent Carole Walker, and her report contains some flash photography.
CAROLE WALKER: He’s one of the most high-profile campaigners for Brexit. Though even some on his own side are uncomfortable with the Nigel Farage tone and style. Tonight, just a sip of red wine – before the confrontation at least. No surprise that immigration, the big issue for the Leave campaign, was the focus.
NIGEL FARAGE UKIP Leader, Leave Campaign: The real point about this referendum is who makes the decisions. Do we have the ability to control the numbers that come to Britain or not?
CW: Mr Farage said he wanted to get net migration down below 50,000 and he said this was not just about the economics.
NF: There is something called quality of life, and that means the ability to get your child into the local primary school. It means being able to get a GP appointment.
CW: He was less keen to talk about his controversial warning on LBC of sexual attacks like those in Cologne if we stay in the EU.
ANDREW NEIL: So you did predict Cologne style sex attacks.
NF: I, I may have done months ago but I chose . . .
AN: (interrupting) Well you did, we’ve just seen it.
NF: But I chose, but I chose in this referendum to try and make it a non-issue. Why? Because there are so many other things for us to talk about. However, is what I said at LBC wrong? Of course it’s not.
CW: But what about the criticism from the Archbishop of Canterbury, who accused him of legitimising racism?
NF: ‘We have good archbishops and bad archbishops.’
AN: Which category does he fall into?
NF: Given that he was talking specifically about what had appeared in a Sunday newspaper, he clearly had read a headline and not the very careful words that I used.
CW: Nigel Farage insisted Britain would be safer outside the EU and dismissed opponents who said his vision was mean and divisive.
NF: None of them go out and meet ordinary people and perhaps in my case occasionally have a pint with them, and let me tell you, my vision is to put this country and the British people first, and for us to divorce ourselves from political union and to re-engage with the rest of the world. It is upbeat, it is optimistic, and do you know something, I think we’re going to win.
CW: Still two weeks to go. But there’s no disguising the upbeat mood in the Leave camp. Carole Walker, BBC News.