GB News has insisted it remains committed to having politicians as presenters after Ofcom ruled five episodes of shows presented by Tory MPs broke broadcasting rules.
Two episodes of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s State Of The Nation, two episodes of Friday Morning With Esther And Phil, and one episode of Saturday Morning With Esther And Phil, broadcast during May and June 2023, broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom said.
Minister without porfolio Esther McVey and backbencher Philip Davies present the Esther and Phil shows.
Rules under the Broadcasting Code say that news must be presented with due impartiality and Ofcom found this had not been the case in these episodes.
According to the rules, a politician can also not be a newsreader, interviewer or reporter unless there is editorial justification.
READ MORE: GB News: What Ofcom rules did shows hosted by Tory MPs breach?
The media regulator said it found politicians had acted as newsreaders, news interviewers or news reporters in sequences "which clearly constituted news without exceptional justification".
GB News has now issued a furious response to the ruling describing it as a "chilling development" for which it is "deeply concerned".
Bosses have said they will be looking to meet with Ofcom to raise concerns.
The broadcaster said: “Ofcom is obliged by law to promote free speech and media plurality, and to ensure that alternative voices are heard.
“Its latest decisions, in some cases a year after the programme aired, contravene those duties.
“Extraordinarily, Ofcom has determined that a programme which it acknowledges was impartial and lacking in any expression of opinion, still somehow breaches its impartiality rules just because an imaginary viewer might think otherwise.”
READ MORE: Chaos as minister urges Tory plotters to stop move to oust Rishi Sunak
GB news claimed Ofcom had “arbitrarily changed the test” and this ruling was a “chilling development for all broadcasters, for freedom of speech, and for everyone in the United Kingdom”.
It said it “takes its obligations very seriously” and is committed to having politicians as presenters on the channel.
A separate episode of Rees-Mogg’s State of the Nation was looked at but did not raise issues to warrant an investigation, Ofcom said.
Ofcom added it feels the use of politicians to present news risks "undermining the integrity and credibility of regulated broadcast news.”
It said: "Politicians have an inherently partial role in society and news content presented by them is likely to be viewed by audiences in light of that perceived bias."
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