Bev Turner has passionately stood up for the People's Channel after Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy "couldn't help" but take aim at GB News while discussing the latest saga involving the BBC on its political programme, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
The Labour politician joined Ms Kuenssberg on her eponymous talk show to discuss the latest scandal engulfing the BBC after it faced claims of "systemic bias" following reports that a Panorama documentary deliberately misled viewers.
In the Panorama documentary in question, a speech by Donald Trump appeared to have been heavily doctored to suggest he endorsed the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.
The BBC is expected to apologise for the mishap on Monday, but it has led to question marks over the corporation's impartiality and prompted concerns over bias moving forward.
TRENDING
Stories
Videos
Your Say
Lisa Nandy appeared on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
|BBC
Ms Kuenssberg put the incident to Ms Nandy on Sunday morning. "Right now, in all of this morning’s papers, the BBC is under fire for decisions made about its news coverage," Ms Kuenssberg pointed out.
"One of the particular claims is about what’s described as a misleading edit about a Donald Trump speech from the day of the Capitol riots in 2021. I just wonder, have you watched it, and did you think it was misleading?"
Ms Nandy replied: "I have watched it, but I haven’t seen the full version of the interview versus the clips that the Panorama programme showed. But I have discussed the range of issues that were raised in the email that was leaked to the BBC.
"It isn’t just about the Panorama programme, although that is incredibly serious. There is a series of very serious allegations made, the most serious of which is that there is systemic bias in the way that difficult issues are reported at the BBC. I’ve spoken to the chairman this week.
Bev Turner was not impressed with Ms Nandy's response
| GB NEWS"I am confident that he is treating this with the seriousness that that demands, and I understand he will be reporting back to the Select Committee on Monday."
Ms Kuenssberg waded back in to point out that the BBC director-general, Tim Davie, had been invited onto her show to discuss the saga but declined. "The concerns that have been raised, though — I wonder if you share any of them. Do you?" she asked.
Ms Nandy answered: "My concern about what is happening at the BBC is twofold. The first concern that I have is that, in all these areas — whether it’s Israel-Gaza, whether it’s the concerns that were raised this week about the way they report on trans people or this issue about President Trump — what tends to happen at the BBC is that decisions about editorial standards, editorial leadership, and the language used in reporting is highly inconsistent.
"It doesn’t always meet the highest standards, it's not always well thought through, and often it's left to individual journalists to make decisions. That’s something I have discussed at length with the Director-General and Chair, and it's something I expect them to grip."
LATEST BBC DEVELOPMENTS
Lisa Nandy and Laura Kuenssberg debated the claims against the BBC
|BBC
But spotting the chance to take a swipe at one of BBC News' competitors, GB News, Ms Nandy continued: "But my second concern about the BBC is that increasingly they are working in a news-media environment where news and facts are often blurred with polemic and opinion.
"And I think that is creating a very, very dangerous environment in this country, where people can’t trust what they see.
"I was very disappointed recently that Ofcom decided not to proceed with proposals to take action on politicians presenting the news. I am looking, as Culture Secretary, at what we as a Government can do to deal with this.
"We cannot continue with a situation where people cannot believe what they see," she added, referring to the People's Channel's historic court victory over Ofcom over supposed broadcasting breaches.
Laura Kuenssberg pointed out that the BBC doesn't have politicians front any of its shows
|BBC
Ofcom has since updated its guidelines when it comes to politicians presenting news programmes, expanding its definition of "politician" to include members of the House of Lords, for instance.
But given the sheer amount of scrutiny currently on the BBC and the fact that Ms Nandy still attempted to steer the conversation towards GB News, Bev was just one person who was unimpressed.
Taking to X to share her thoughts on the Culture Secretary's remarks, Bev fumed: "Omg...@lisanandy 'trying' to criticise BBC news but cannot help herself inadvertently swerving off to talk about @GBNEWS!
"WE are the channel that embraces a blend of news and personal opinion in order to create powerful, honest debate on the issues that matter (that is not in fact a problem at the BBC. Their issues are broader bias of editorial oversight).
Bev Turner slammed the Culture Secretary
|X
"WE are the channel who have insightful MPs hosting shows. There is a reason we are now the most watched news channel in the UK - people relate to us and we reflect their lives.
"Do you share my suspicion that the BBC's propagandizing is going to see @GBNEWS being punished??"
Bev signed off: "Dear @lisanandy - do not even think about punishing us for mistakes of the BBC!! The public know the difference." (sic)
The swipe from Ms Nandy also comes after GB News celebrated a fourth straight month as the nation's biggest news channel, seeing off BBC News and Sky News in the ratings.