The Conversation (0)
Politics
Alex Daniel
Sep 29, 2023
Tory MP Lee Anderson prepares to interview the home secretary in the name of 'journalism'
X / @LeeAndersonMP_
Lee Anderson has become the butt of social media’s jokes again, after his rather overzealous promotion of an upcoming “interview” with his government colleague, Suella Braverman.
The Conservative Party’s deputy chairman, who also has a talk show on rightwing TV channel GB News, announced that he would be speaking to Braverman on Friday evening.
Anderson teased the segment on X/Twitter on Thursday, presenting it as an “exclusive scoop”.
It is the first media appearance of the home secretary since she gave a controversial speech in the US seeking to weaken the rights of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.
Exclusive Scoop.\n\nWatch me tomorrow on @GBNEWS interview @SuellaBraverman in her first interview on British soil since her landmark speech this week in the US.\n\n7pm tomorrow night \ud83d\udda5\ud83d\udcfa— Lee Anderson MP (@Lee Anderson MP) 1695908637
It is the latest instance of a Tory MP who is being paid to host a TV show have a discussion with a government colleague on air.
The boss of GB News, Angelos Frangopoulos, was this morning forced to defend the practice, insisting the segment would be “duly impartial”.
Social media users didn’t agree. One journalist tweeted an impression of Anderson’s breathless promotion of the segment as an “exclusive”.
EXCLUSIVE WORLD NEWS SCOOP STORY\n\nWatch me tomorrow for no-holds-barred interview with Me, digging into big issues MSM won\u2019t touch like:\n\n\ud83d\udea8 Why I am so handsome\n\ud83d\udca5 How I work out while making vital decisions\n\ud83d\udca3 The truth behind THAT snap of me rescuing kittens from burning house— Matt Honeycombe-Foster (@Matt Honeycombe-Foster) 1695930682
Another Twitter user pointed out that presenting the conversation as a “scoop” indicates that it is a news item, which is against Ofcom’s rules for MP’s presenting TV shows.
@LeeAndersonMP_ @GBNEWS @SuellaBraverman hi, Lee, in light of the discussion about Ofcom looking at GB News, you may want to modify this tweet to remove the 'Exclusive Scoop' note, which suggests that this is a news item.\n\nOfcom's rules allow MPs to be presenters, but not to be an interviewer in any 'news' content.— dan barker (@dan barker) 1695910774
And one other was sad to miss the segment, saying that they had “already made a very important appointment, to kick myself in the balls”.
@LeeAndersonMP_ @GBNEWS @SuellaBraverman Yeh, sorry gonna have to miss it. I\u2019ve already made a very important appointment, to kick myself in the balls..— axeman (@axeman) 1695936971
GB News has four serving Tory MPs on its bankroll, and has already been found to have breached impartiality rules in the past.
Earlier this month, Ofcom said that a segment which saw Tory MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies interview chancellor Jeremy Hunt broke the rules.
The watchdog said it “failed to represent and give due weight to an appropriately wide range of significant views on a matter of major political controversy”.
Anderson earns £100,000 a year for his show on top of his £86,584 MP’s salary.
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