GB News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos has written an open letter to Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.
The Kingston and Surbiton MP asked in the House of Commons whether impartiality rules for broadcasters are “fit for purpose”, using the question as an opportunity to directly criticise GB News.
In response, Angelos Frangopoulos has asked for the Lib Dem leader to correct the parliamentary record, expressing concern at “the extent of the inaccuracies” in Sir Ed’s statement.
You can read his full letter below.
Dear Sir Edward,
I am writing in response to your comments in Parliament earlier today, in which you stated that:
“A New World investigation into GB News has found hundreds of shocking breaches of the rules of impartiality and accuracy, yet Ofcom has repeatedly refused to take action. Andrew Neil says, just as Fox basically became the channel of Donald Trump, it is clear they have turned GB News into the Reform channel. We cannot let GB News propaganda turn our great country into their version of (Donald) Trump’s America. Either the Government rules aren’t fit for purpose or Ofcom isn’t properly enforcing them.”
I assume these remarks were made in the knowledge that, while highly defamatory of GB News, they were protected by absolute parliamentary privilege. Nevertheless, I would hope that you would not have made such serious allegations without having read the New World report in full and undertaken appropriate due diligence regarding its claims. I was therefore concerned by the extent of the inaccuracies in your statement.
For clarity, the New World investigation did not find “hundreds of breaches” of Ofcom’s regulations. Indeed, it found no breaches at all, which is unsurprising since such determinations can only be made by Ofcom itself. Instead, the New World piece selectively highlights a small number of GB News programmes and critiques them through a politically partisan lens. It relies on an unverified “assessment” of compliance carried out by anonymous journalists, none of whom have identified themselves or demonstrated the regulatory expertise required to make such claims. The scoring system adopted is arbitrary, unexplained, and bears no resemblance to Ofcom’s established regulatory framework.
You will also be aware that Ofcom has recently reviewed the issue of politician presenters and maintained the existing rules precisely because they provide sufficient audience protection while safeguarding broadcasters’ and viewers’ free speech rights. This followed a High Court ruling which quashed an earlier “in breach” decision against GB News — leading to several other findings subsequently being overturned.
It is therefore inaccurate and irresponsible to assert that GB News has been found in breach of impartiality or accuracy rules “hundreds of times”, as no such record exists. We note, moreover, that you did not voice any concerns about GB News’ supposed bias last week when it was the only national broadcaster to cover your party’s Spring Conference.
In light of these facts, it would be appropriate for you to correct the parliamentary record at the earliest opportunity.
Yours Sincerely,
Angelos Frangopoulos AM
Chief Executive, GB News Limited
