Complaint
The programme included an interview with Martyn Lewis of Moneysavingexpert.com. A viewer complained that it amounted to a “ten-minute rant†against the Government by someone “known to be anti-Conservativeâ€, and that Mr Lewis, as Editor in Chief of a commercial website and a presenter of a programme on ITV, had financial interests which should have been made clear to the audience. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ’s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The occasion of the interview was that day’s publication by Ofgen of a prospective new price cap for gas and electricity which would have led to significant increases in domestic bills. Although Mr Lewis was critical of the Government, it was not on a partisan basis but on the basis that the Government had not provided information about support for consumers, as it had done at the time of the previous increase in the Energy Price Cap, and as it would have been able to do on this occasion. The ECU considered this to be legitimate comment from an expert concerned about the anxiety of many consumers about the effect of the increase on their household budgets. The ECU found no evidence to warrant the claim that Mr Lewis, who describes himself as a floating voter, was a “k²Ô´Ç·É²Ô…a²Ô³Ù¾±-°ä´Ç²Ô²õ±ð°ù±¹²¹³Ù¾±±¹±ðâ€, and saw nothing in his relationship with a commercial website and an ITV programme (which, in any event, many viewers would have been aware of) which created a declarable financial interest in the topic under discussion.
Not upheld