Complaint
This bulletin included a report on the resignation of Sue Gray as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister.Β A viewer complained that it included stills of Boris Johnson at two gatherings in 10 Downing St which suggested he had been found to be in breach of Covid regulations on more than one occasion, whereas he had been fined only once.Β The viewer considered this to reflect bias against Mr Johnson.Β The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔβs editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The stills were intended to illustrate an aspect of Ms Grayβs career (the accompanying script making the point that she had conducted the βPartygateβ investigation, with results which hastened Mr Johnsonβs resignation), and there was no implication about the extent to which they did or did not individually attract censure. Β The ECU noted, however, that both the events shown (which took place on 19 June and 13 November 2020) had been found to be in breach of Regulation 8 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020, even though Mr Johnson had been fined only for the first of them.
Not Upheld