GB News: five episodes of programmes hosted by Tory MPs including Jacob Rees-Mogg broke impartiality rules, says Ofcom

Ofcom has said that it found that three Tory MPs broke broadcasting impartiality rules with episodes of their GB News programmes.

The media watchdog had been probing the news channel after allegation of impartiality during shows hosted by the Tory MPs. It found that five episodes of shows hosted by former House of Commons leader Sir Jacob Reese-Mogg, Ester McVey and backbencher Philip Davies were in breach of Ofcom's broadcasting rules.

Ofcom said: “We found that 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, failed to comply with Rules 5.1 and 5.3 of the Broadcasting Code.”

The watchdog said that on each episode, the sitting politicians "acted as newsreaders news interviewers or news reporters in sequences which clearly constituted news – including reporting breaking news events – without exceptional justification, news was, therefore, not presented with due impartiality”.

It added: “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. In our view, the use of politicians to present the news risks undermining the integrity and credibility of regulated broadcast news.”

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GB News has not yet commented on the ruling. It comes after the channel came under fire by Ofcom again, after it ruled that comments made by former contributor Laurence Fox on air broke broadcasting rules for being "degrading and demeaning" to women, after he launched a misogynistic attack towards JOE Politics journalist Ava Evans.

When discussing the journalist and her legitimacy as a political commentator, Laurence asked ex-GB News host Dan Wootton 'who'd want to s**g that?'. The incident prompted 8,867 complaints to Ofcom, which launched an investigation shortly after.

Extinction Rebellion has also targeted the station with criticism, with protesters demonstrating outside the channel's main studio. Oil-like paint was urled at the building, while protesters labelled GB News a "puppet TV station" for the fossil fuel industry.