Rupa Huq attacks GB News over migrant crisis coverage and tells BBC to play down small boat stories
A veteran Labour MP has attacked GB News over its migration coverage before telling the BBC to play down stories about the small boats crisis.
Ealing Central & Acton MP Rupa Huq, who sits on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, claimed the BBC was at risk of imitating GB News by putting articles about the Channel crossing crisis at the top of the homepage.
Ms Huq was the only panellist to directly raise GB News during the hour-long discussion at a Labour Party Conference fringe event hosted by polling firm More in Common.
She said: “We don’t want the BBC, stuffed with a load of right-wing cronies at the top, trying to ape GB News.
“It’s kind of tempting in a world of algorithmic things where emotions are rewarded, and a very strong emotion is hate, so if you say anti-migrant stuff, like GB News says, but we shouldn’t have the BBC try to imitate that.
“There have been some suggestions on the Newswatch programme that some reporting of news recently by the BBC has been off the ball.”
Ms Huq, who admitted she still has friends and family who work at Broadcasting House, added: “In some cases, on the BBC website, the story they tend to put at the top, when there are other things going on, there are examples of this [aping GB News].”
However, concerns about the migration crisis continue to grip the United Kingdom amid growing fears about small boat migrants being housed in local communities.
Rupa Huq is the MP for Ealing Central & Acton
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Around half of all Britons identify immigration and asylum as a top issue facing the UK, ranking the crisis alongside the economy.
The proportion of voters who believe levels of immigration have been too high in recent years is even higher, with almost 70 per cent suggesting numbers should come down.
GB News has provided extensive coverage of the migrant crisis since launching in June 2021.
The People’s Channel regularly updates viewers on new waves of small boat crossings, including up-to-date comparisons of arrivals made under each Prime Minister since 2018.
The Labour MP urged the BBC against imitating GB News
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GB News also covered the recent independent referendum in Piddington, which saw 92 per cent of residents vote to leave the UK amid plans to house 1,250 male asylum seekers at a former Ministry of Defence site in the village.
Meanwhile, the BBC recently came under fire after its Newsnight programme aired the views of local resident Rachel Marsh.
Ms Marsh responded to the vote by describing her neighbours as “bigoted and xenophobic people”, adding: “The mobilisation of the far-right which we have witnessed this weekend is very much being felt here in this village.
Ms Huq, who was joined on the More in Common fringe panel by Media Minister Ian Murray, remained supportive of the BBC.
The small boats crisis remains a issue of concern to most voters
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Despite calling on the BBC to be “more confident” and admitting it “could do better”, the Labour MP described the corporation as the “gold standard”.
She also claimed the BBC was “way more” trusted than other broadcasters.
However, a recent poll published by Ofcom revealed that GB News is more trusted by its viewers than either the BBC or Sky News.
Almost three in four GB News viewers – 74 per cent – consider the channel to be trustworthy.
Question marks remain about the future for funding the BBC
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Meanwhile, 66 per cent of BBC viewers trusted the corporation’s coverage.
More in Common’s polling found 46 per cent of Britons no longer value the £180 a year, while 33 per cent described the TV levy as good value for money.
Meanwhile, a majority of respondents – 54 per cent – suggested cutting the £180 charge to £120 would encourage them to continue paying the licence fee.
Almost half – 45 per cent – claimed an encouraging sign would be if the BBC took a more politically independent position on issues.
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