Complaint
A viewer complained the programme was biased against Labour as a result of “false equivalence†between the Downing Street lockdown socialising known as Partygate and Sir Keir Starmer’s contested lockdown gathering in Durham, and of Labour’s Wes Streeting being “grilled like a criminal suspect†. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ’s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The programme was an investigation by Laura Kuenssberg into the Downing Street gatherings, and an examination of Boris Johnson’s culpability for them and his ability to survive the criticism they provoked. The Durham gathering was not presented as equivalent, either in duration or gravity as a potential breach of regulations, and occupied only about five of the programme’s 57 minutes. In the ECU’s judgement, the interview with Wes Streeting, though challenging, consisted of questions it was legitimate to put to someone speaking as a representative of the Shadow Cabinet defending the Leader of the Opposition, and he had fair opportunity to answer them. The ECU therefore found no breach of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ’s standards of impartiality.Â
Not upheld