The BBC has dismissed a fresh set of complaints of pro-UK government bias by Scots presenter Andrew Marr.
Nearly 200 complaints were made about the December 13 edition of The Andrew Marr Show - raising concerns that the presenter appeared to be defending the government over Brexit while interrupting former Labour leader Ed Milliband too much.
At one point the Glasgow-born journalist and author described as "mealy mouthed" Mr Milliband's comment that Labour would have to look at the detail of any trade deal with the EU before deciding to fully support it.
It comes after the publicly-funded broadcaster dismissed complaints of bias by Mr Marr against the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in what was one of the most complained-about shows of the year.
READ MORE: BBC dismiss complaints of Andrew Marr 'bias' against Nicola Sturgeon in interview
The complaints related specifically to the First Minister’s appearance on The Andrew Marr Show on November 29 in which the Scots presenter suggested there was a "gap" between reality and her public claims about both the Alex Salmond scandal, her government's coronavirus record and the state of education in Scotland.
Andrew Marr, the Glasgow-born journalist and author, presented an attitude towards the First Minister which some compared to an “attack dog” who was aiming not for a political interview but a “character assassination”.
Complaints to the BBC compared what some described as an "aggressive confrontational attitude" to both Mr Miliband and Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin while having an "acquiescent" attitude to foreign secretary Dominic Raab.
On the show, in an exchange with the Mr Milliband who had said a no deal Brexit would be a "disastrous outcome" Mr Marr asked if Boris Johnson could guarantee Labour support if he came to the House of Commons with a deal.
When the shadow business secretary responded that the detail would have to be looked at, Mr Marr responded: "No, no, no. You've just said no deal is the worst possible outcome, therefore if a deal comes back you must vote for it."
But the BBC has insisted that it did not consider Mr Milliband was treated an differently to other guests on the show.
The public service broadcaster said: "Each interview is different and Andrew Marr seeks to challenge each guest on their arguments, using facts and other points of view to test what they say.
"This approach was very clear in the interview with the Shadow Business Secretary who was closely questioned on topics including Labour’s position if a deal does come back, where compromises can be made to strike a deal and the impact that would have on the UK.
Ed Miliband also quite right to push back hard against Marr’s attempt to present as objective fact characterisations of what is on the table supplied by an unreliable Downing Street operation. https://t.co/te7OTjh7Be
— Simon Nixon (@Simon_Nixon) December 13, 2020
"We don’t agree that the approach taken was biased or unfair. Ed Miliband was given plenty of time to make his points.
"The interview with the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, displayed the same level of scrutiny with its focus on the impact of leaving the transition period without a trade deal on security, on trade and on food prices.
"Mr Marr reminded Mr Raab of promises made while he was on the campaign committee of the Vote Leave campaign and then closely questioned whether those promises had been kept.
"No two interviews will ever be the same. However, we don’t consider Mr Marr treated Mr Miliband any differently to the other guests on the programme."
In another segment of the show, Mr Marr asked Mr Milliband if he would accept being tied to the single market in perpetuity in order to get a deal.
The senior Labour MP said: "I want us to have high minimum standards on workers rights and the environment. What do we have to fear?"
The BBC host fired back: "You sound as if you would accept the EU demands on the so-called ratchet clauses.
You can hear Marr's pathetic attempts to interrupt and prevent Miliband from calling out Johnson's lies. This pro-Tory attitude of BBC interviewers is one of the main reasons why we're in this mess.
— Guywood Threepbrush (@IsoTupe) December 13, 2020
"That means if the UK diverges from the EU on standards, there would be fast, punitive tariffs piled onto us."
When Mr Miliband said Labour "didn't know whether that is the proposal," Mr Marr replied: "That is the proposal!"
The BBC host added: "You are giving me a speech and I want an answer.
"Would Labour accept a certain loss of British sovereignty today to get a deal?"
The shadow business secretary responded: "You are taking their frame. I don't accept the sovereignty argument, Andrew.
"It's our national interest to get a deal."
In another interview on the programme, the Taoiseach insisted that it would be a failure if the EU and UK were not able to broker a Brexit deal but BBC Andrew Marr questioned his comments.
He said: "You imply very strongly the EU is doing everything it can to get a deal and yet Boris Johnson asked for meetings with Angela Merkel in Berlin and Emmanuel Macron in Paris and then asked for phone calls with them and all of that was refused.
"We remember when your predecessor Mr Varadkar had a meeting face to face with Boris Johnson.
"This doesn't feel like the EU is trying to get a deal."
In a nutshell @Ed_Miliband sums up the essence of the No deal issue brilliantly, standing up to @AndrewMarr9 who was trying to trot out dishonest Tory defences to excuse broken promises. Great clip. Well done Ed for speaking the truth.
— Robin Murray (@robinthemint) December 13, 2020
pic.twitter.com/BmtfAEJnWe
Mr Martin replied: "I don't think that's a fair assessment of the situation in terms of the Northern Ireland protocol and the withdrawal agreement."
"The British-Irish relationship is central post-Brexit as well because I was a member of the government that brought in the Good Friday Agreement."
As of December 10, the BBC’s figures reported that 161 complaints were received relating to “bias against SNP" in the earlier interview with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Strictly Come Dancing received 141 complaints from people who felt it was “inappropriate for male professional dancers to be dressed in drag for the opening dance”, while Have I Got News For You received 105 complaints for “offensive humour”.
Some 177 complaints were made about the Andrew Marr show featuring Mr Milliband.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel