The BBC has been accused of “collusion” with Sadiq Khan over its reporting on the far-left Mayor of London’s anti-car Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scheme that has caused outrage among the working class of London.
Leaked internal emails from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) provided to Reform UK London mayoral candidate Howard Cox appeared to show that the public broadcaster catering to the political demands of Mayor Khan.
According to a report from the Daily Express, an email to staff from senior BBC South East news editor Dan Fineman stated: “If any platforms are doing a story on Ulez charges in the South and South East we now need to do a mandatory referral to Jason Horton/Robert Thompson because of an outstanding complaint with the Mayor of London which is very live at the moment.”
Robert Thompson currently serves as the BBC’s head of content production for East and London and Jason Horton serves as the director of production for BBC local services. The email was reportedly flagged as “important” and came in the wake of an “England leadership call”.
The whistleblower from within the BBC who leaked the email reportedly told Mr Cox that it was “unreal to have such an edict put on us – by a politician and [have] my bosses running scared of Khan”.
“We can’t report without BBC bosses saying we can. Now you tell me Howard, that doesn’t stop people from doing it, in case he (Sadiq Khan) complains about them too? I also believe a BBC London investigation into ULEZ has now been paused because of the Mayor of London’s pressure on the BBC,” the whistleblower added.
Mr Cox, who has long served as the head of the campaign group FairFuelUK, accused the BBC of “undemocratic collusion” with the leftist mayor, adding that it was “alarming and very disturbing that the BBC’s news agenda” was being “dictated to by London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan”.
“We all know UK’s perennially demonised drivers, that pay the BBC’s £159 annual licence fee, have never got impartial news coverage or balanced reporting on driving issues,” he continued.
Responding to the alleged bias at the publicly-funded broadcaster, Politics England BBC Editor Tim Burke said: “We have full editorial independence over the content we produce, and we will cover the Ulez debate from a range of perspectives without fear or favour.”
Burke added that “senior editorial leaders” at the BBC held discussions covering the green agenda scheme “to ensure we are duly impartial across all platforms and reflect fairly and accurately all sides of the arguments for and against Ulez and other proposed schemes”.
“Given coverage of Ulez has generated a large number of complaints – some valid and some not so – referral to Robert Thompson and Jason Horton was a recent additional measure to safeguard the balance of our reporting on… a controversial topic.”
“These kinds of referrals are not unusual and it is part of normal senior editorial oversight of output as stories develop and progress.”
A spokesman for Mayor Khan’s office said per The Telegraph: “As you would expect, our press and communications teams are in regular contact with the BBC and other media outlets about Sadiq’s work to create a safer, greener and fairer London for all.
“This can occasionally include correcting or clarifying any inaccuracies that may arise in media coverage.”
Demonstrators hold placards against London mayor Sadiq Khan and chant slogans during a rally to protest against the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in London, at Marble Arch, central London, on June 25, 2023. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
Mayor Khan’s Ulez scheme, which is set to expand the so-called low emission zones that imposes a £12.50 (~$15.50) tax per day to all 32 boroughs of the capital, has become deeply controversial in the British capital, given that it would disproportionately impact working-class people who need to drive in the city for their jobs.
Another protest was held in London on Sunday against the Ulez expansion, with banners reading “Our Roads, Our Freedom”. Previously protest groups have warned that the city could see French-style revolts from the working class over the imposition of the green agenda car taxes.