Complaint
In an exchange with a panellist, the presenter Alex Forsyth stated that the question of whether or not the UK should leave the European Union had been put to a democratic vote in a referendum 鈥in which the majority of people in the United Kingdom voted to leave鈥. A listener complained this was inaccurate for several reasons including that not all those who had a vote used it and that some used their votes as a protest. The ECU considered this complaint against the Guidelines on accuracy and impartiality.
Outcome
The Editorial Guidelines outline a requirement for 鈥渄耻别鈥 accuracy and impartiality, which they describe as that which is adequate and appropriate to the output, taking account of the subject and nature of the content and audience expectations of it.聽 The panellist, Lord Deben, had delivered a forthright statement on a controversial issue when he said 鈥淚f people are stupid enough to leave the European Union, and it鈥檚 not only here (in healthcare) it鈥檚 right across the board, our situation is worse because we鈥檝e left the European Union鈥.聽 In the ECU鈥檚 view the requirement for due impartiality obliged Alex Forsyth to counter this in some way, since there are many who would strongly disagree.聽 In the context of this programme, in what was a relatively brief exchange, it was neither appropriate nor necessary to enter into a wider debate about the legitimacy of the referendum. The question of whether or not the UK should leave the European Union was put to a democratic vote in a referendum which produced a majority in favour of leaving.聽 At this stage in the debate the ECU considered it would have been taken as read that the majority in question was of those actually voting, rather than all those eligible to vote.
Not Upheld