Tories lash BBC over refusal to call Hamas ‘terrorists’
Seven of the UK’s former culture secretaries have told the broadcaster its refusal risks blurring its impartiality.
Seven of the UK’s former culture secretaries have told the BBC that its refusal to call Hamas “terrorists” risks blurring its impartiality.
Led by Sajid Javid, they called on the BBC to “urgently reassess” its approach to describing Hamas as “militants” and “fighters” in a letter to Tim Davie, the director-general of the broadcaster.
The group cited the BBC’s guidelines, which state that impartiality does not require “absolute neutrality” on every issue or “detachment from fundamental democratic principles”.
They said: “The BBC’s commitment is to impartiality, not indifference. This distinction is now in danger of being blurred. Worryingly, the imprecise language of ‘fighters’ and ‘militants’ also serves to conflate terrorists with the Palestinian people, who suffer more than anyone from Hamas’s actions. We add our voices to the mounting concerns about the BBC’s language around this terror group. It is time to urgently reassess your approach.”
The six other former culture secretaries are Karen Bradley, Nadine Dorries, Matt Hancock, Maria Miller, Baroness Morgan of Cotes and Sir Jeremy Wright.
Rishi Sunak has also stated that he believes it is “incumbent” on the BBC as the national broadcaster to refer to members of Hamas as terrorists.
John Simpson, the BBC’s world affairs editor, has argued that the corporation would be “taking sides” if it did so. However, the prime minister has said that Hamas is a terrorist organisation that has been formally proscribed under British law and he believes it should be described as such.
A No.10 source said: “As the PM has said repeatedly, Hamas are not militants, they are terrorists. It is incumbent on our national broadcaster to recognise this fact.”
Sunak said on Monday: “There are not two sides to these events. There is no question of balance. I stand with Israel. The people who support Hamas are fully responsible for this attack. They are not militants. They are not freedom fighters. They are terrorists.”
Noah Abrahams, 22, a freelance sports reporter on BBC Radio Derby, told TalkTV he would no longer work with the broadcaster, saying: “I have morals. The words ‘justified’ and ‘unjustified’ have been thrown around a lot and the BBC’s refusal to use the correct terminology is unjustifiable. Terminology and words when neglected have the power to fuel hate.”
The Times
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout