Complaint
A viewer complained Laura Kuenssberg did not mention Brexit as a factor adversely impacting the UK economy in the course of a question she put to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, resulting in bias on the issue and misleading viewers. Β The ECU considered whether the interview met the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔβs requirements for due accuracy impartiality.
Outcome
During the interview viewers were shown a graph labelled βpublic debt as a % of GDPβ with the time axis beginning in 2019. While showing this graph to Mr Hunt, Ms Kuenssberg posed a specific, time referenced question about what had happened to public debt since 2019. Β The ECU therefore considered that while Ms Kuenssberg could have referenced Brexit there was no obligation on her to mention it in the context of this timeframe in order to be duly accurate and impartial. Β It was clear she was pointing out the surge in public debt visible on the graph that coincided in particular with the pandemic post-2019 but which was also due in part to other events that had happened after that date
Β Not Upheld