Wes Streeting, the UK's Health Secretary, has voiced strong criticism of the BBC following the removal of a controversial documentary on Gaza. The BBC's decision to withdraw the film stemmed from revelations concerning its teenage narrator, who has been identified as the son of Ayman Alyazouri, the deputy minister of agriculture for Hamas. The documentary was promptly taken down from the BBC iPlayer platform, and the corporation has since committed to investigating the circumstances surrounding its production.
In a statement released last night, the BBC acknowledged "serious flaws" in the documentary and stressed its intention not to broadcast the programme again in its current format or return it to iPlayer. A spokesperson for the BBC confirmed that both the BBC and the independent production company responsible for the film had made "unacceptable" errors and accepted "full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the corporation's reputation."
Addressing the situation on LBC, Streeting labelled the incident a "terrible mess" for the BBC, urging the organisation to reassess its editorial standards. He remarked, “The BBC has got itself into a terrible terrible mess here and they need to look at their editorial standards and how they are upheld.” He further referenced Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's clear expectations for accountability and improvements within the corporation, indicating that an examination of the circumstances leading to the documentary's airing is underway.
The BBC has stated that it was not made aware of the narrator’s familial ties to Hamas prior to the documentary's broadcast. The spokesperson clarified that requests for disclosure regarding any potential connections between the narrator and Hamas had been made multiple times in writing to the independent production company. Following the documentary's transmission, the production company conceded that they were indeed aware of the narrator's father's position within the Hamas government, but failed to disclose this information to the BBC. The spokesperson added, “It was then the BBC's own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.”
As the situation develops, there are increasing demands for a comprehensive independent inquiry into the matter, as some critics have expressed concern that the internal investigation may amount to the BBC “marking its own homework.”
Source: Noah Wire Services