This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/apr/27/bbc-brexit-case-lord-patten-john-whittingdale
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| BBC 'excessively deferential' to pro-Brexit case, says Lord Patten | BBC 'excessively deferential' to pro-Brexit case, says Lord Patten |
| (4 months later) | |
| The BBC may be giving “excessively deferential” treatment to the Brexit campaign because its charter is under review by a culture secretary who wants to leave the EU, Chris Patten has said. | The BBC may be giving “excessively deferential” treatment to the Brexit campaign because its charter is under review by a culture secretary who wants to leave the EU, Chris Patten has said. |
| Lord Patten, a Conservative peer and former BBC Trust chairman who is in favour of the UK staying in the EU, said it raised eyebrows when weighty figures from the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund were given equal billing with “some backbencher no one has ever heard of”. | Lord Patten, a Conservative peer and former BBC Trust chairman who is in favour of the UK staying in the EU, said it raised eyebrows when weighty figures from the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund were given equal billing with “some backbencher no one has ever heard of”. |
| Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Patten said it was extremely difficult for the BBC having to cover the referendum “with the shadow of the charter review and [John] Whittingdale hanging over it”. | Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Patten said it was extremely difficult for the BBC having to cover the referendum “with the shadow of the charter review and [John] Whittingdale hanging over it”. |
| “I think that may make people excessively deferential when they are trying to produce balance,” he said, but added that it was better for the BBC to be criticised for being too fair than anything else. | “I think that may make people excessively deferential when they are trying to produce balance,” he said, but added that it was better for the BBC to be criticised for being too fair than anything else. |
| The senior Conservative also predicted that the remain campaign was going to win the referendum and appealed for the party to pull together afterwards. He said it would require a “spectacular quantity of magnanimity” from David Cameron after the result, and called on leave campaigners, if they lose, “not to go down the Alex Salmond route” of refusing to accept that a constitutional question has been settled by a referendum. | The senior Conservative also predicted that the remain campaign was going to win the referendum and appealed for the party to pull together afterwards. He said it would require a “spectacular quantity of magnanimity” from David Cameron after the result, and called on leave campaigners, if they lose, “not to go down the Alex Salmond route” of refusing to accept that a constitutional question has been settled by a referendum. |
| It comes after a week of particularly pronounced and acrimonious splits at the top of the Tory party that have strayed beyond the issue of the EU. | It comes after a week of particularly pronounced and acrimonious splits at the top of the Tory party that have strayed beyond the issue of the EU. |
| Chris Grayling, the leader of the House of Commons, claimed the junior doctors’ strike could have been settled with money saved from leaving the EU, while the government claimed the dispute was not about money. | Chris Grayling, the leader of the House of Commons, claimed the junior doctors’ strike could have been settled with money saved from leaving the EU, while the government claimed the dispute was not about money. |
| No 10 was then frustrated by an intervention by a cabinet minister on its own side, Theresa May, who argued the UK should stay in the EU but leave the European convention on human rights. | No 10 was then frustrated by an intervention by a cabinet minister on its own side, Theresa May, who argued the UK should stay in the EU but leave the European convention on human rights. |
| Senior Tory sources said this argument would harm Cameron’s intended plan of trying to bring the party back together after 23 June by pressing ahead with a British bill of rights to reform human rights law, while staying in the ECHR. | Senior Tory sources said this argument would harm Cameron’s intended plan of trying to bring the party back together after 23 June by pressing ahead with a British bill of rights to reform human rights law, while staying in the ECHR. |
| Cameron’s campaign was also criticised by leading Brexit figures on Wednesday over reports that his aides are using Whatsapp messaging to discuss strategy in order to avoid being subject to future freedom of information requests. | Cameron’s campaign was also criticised by leading Brexit figures on Wednesday over reports that his aides are using Whatsapp messaging to discuss strategy in order to avoid being subject to future freedom of information requests. |