BBC bosses have been branded “lazy and disrespectful” for labelling a political festival attended by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni a far-right rally.
The Prime Minister used his speech in Rome to issue a stark warning of the threat posed by illegal migration as he suggested that changes to global refugee rules might be needed. He also claimed ‘malign’ states were ‘weaponising’ illegal migration by ‘deliberately driving people to the shores of Britain’.
During its coverage of the event yesterday, the corporation described the gathering as a “far-Right rally”. The phrase appeared on screen, with a presenter adding: “Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has been talking to a far-right political festival, which she actually started many years ago.”
Brendan Clarke-Smith, the Tory MP for Bassetlaw, told The Telegraph: “It’s quite remarkable that the BBC finds it appropriate to refer to our allies, prominent leaders and their political parties as ‘far Right’ for simply being conservative-minded. It’s also incredibly disrespectful to our own Prime Minister, who has spoken there too. Contrast this with their point blank refusal to describe Hamas as terrorists and it’s clear there is a lack of balance and a great deal of hypocrisy.”
Mr Clark-Smith continued: “Rather than throwing around insults, they should instead be praising the Italian PM for her willingness to work together with us to modernise outdated treaties and tackle the people smuggling gangs responsible for so many deaths at sea and in the English Channel.”
Andrew Lewer, the Tory MP for Northampton South, added: “The inaccurate and lazy way the left wing press use the expression ‘far right’ has virtually stripped it of any useful meaning in modern media discourse.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, the former Leader of the House of Commons who is also a presenter on GB News, commented: “It is clearly not a far-Right rally but a congress of democratic conservative parties. Trust the BBC not to know the difference.”
Express.co.uk has contacted the BBC for comment.
Speaking at the weekend, Mr Sunak said: “If we do not tackle this problem, the numbers will only grow. It will overwhelm our countries and our capacity to help those who actually need our help the most.
“If that requires us to update our laws and lead an international conversation to amend the post-war frameworks around asylum, then we must do that. Because if we don’t fix this problem now, the boats will keep coming and more lives will be lost at sea.”
The rhetoric comes as hardliners on the Tory right urge Mr Sunak to block interference from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the UN Refugee Convention amid efforts to stop Channel crossings.
Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden defended Mr Sunak’s use of language.
He said: “I think the Prime Minister is absolutely right to issue this warning, and indeed it’s not just a warning, it’s something that we have seen elsewhere. We have seen the weaponisation of migration, for example, in the conduct of Belarus in relation to Poland, there’s been warnings from Finland in respect of the conduct of Russia.
“There’s a broader point here, which is that we do have to reassure people that we have got control of our borders and we cannot have this unsustainable situation where we’re enriching people smugglers – the worst people on the earth.”
