BBC taking ‘nowhere near enough action’ over Gaza documentary – Nandy

The Culture Secretary has accused the BBC of failing to show enough urgency in its review of a controversial documentary on Gaza as she demanded answers from the broadcaster by early next week.

Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was removed from BBC iPlayer after it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.

The broadcaster apologised for the making of the programme, about children living in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war, after conducting an initial review and it has now launched a further internal probe.

But speaking to the PA news agency on Wednesday, Lisa Nandy said she was yet to see “anywhere near enough action” and that she expected progress to have been made by early next week, when she plans to update the Commons.

“What I haven’t seen from the BBC yet is anywhere near enough action to grip the problems that have emerged,” she said.

“There isn’t enough urgency and I’ve been absolutely clear with the BBC leadership about that. We need proper explanations about what went wrong in this case, why due diligence wasn’t done on the people that were featured in the film, people who worked on the film, and also on the use of language.

“I’ve been really clear with the BBC leadership that I expect answers to those questions and I expect progress to be made by early next week when I intend to update the House of Commons again.”

She added that it would be “very difficult to see a scenario in which it would be acceptable” for the film to made available again after BBC director-general Tim Davie declined to rule out the prospect of it returning to iPlayer.

The BBC said it is “seeking additional assurance” from production company Hoyo Films after it admitted “they paid the boy’s mother, via his sister’s bank account, a limited sum of money for the narration”.

Other accusations have been made that parts of the documentary were mis-translated, and more children who appeared in it were linked to proscribed terrorist organisation Hamas.

In a written statement to MPs, Ms Nandy said she has been “deeply shocked and disappointed”, after the BBC and its board recognised “a number of serious failings in their commissioning and editorial processes”.

She added that this “damages vital trust in an organisation which must retain the confidence of the public”, and said she spoke to the BBC chairman Samir Shah, and told him of her “concerns” on Friday.

“While I appreciate that the BBC apologised for its failings, and the BBC board acknowledged that the mistakes were ‘significant and damaging’, it is vital that the BBC now takes action so that trust is restored and a serious error of this magnitude is not repeated,” she said.

“Reflecting the concerns of (the) House (of Commons) I sought assurances from the chair that the fact-finding review the BBC has commissioned will be swift and rigorous.

“I emphasised that it must include a robust financial audit and address concerns raised (by MPs) on translation. I made clear that the chair and his board must lead and hold the BBC robustly to account for resolving the issues already exposed, and implementing the review’s recommendations.”

She also said “the BBC has provided me with further information on their approach to enhanced compliance procedures but I have not yet received the full range of assurances” and “have requested further details and assurances and expect to be provided these by the BBC leadership urgently”.

“The duty to report on what is happening to people in Gaza is absolutely fundamental,” Ms Nandy also said.

“That is why the Government believes that the BBC and others have a responsibility to exercise utmost care and due diligence in the way in which they report on this conflict.

“It is in no one’s interest for the public not to have confidence in the information that they are receiving.”

Mr Davie told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday he was “very sorry to the audience, because we don’t want to be in a position where we have flaws in the programme-making”.

He added he had “overall” been “proud of the way we’re covering some of these polarised, fiendishly difficult events”.

He also said that there had been around 500 complaints about the film being biased against Israel, and around 1,800 complaints wanted the film put back on iPlayer, and he is “not ruling anything out” on it returning to the BBC’s online streaming platform.

In a letter to the BBC on Monday, Ofcom chairman Lord Grade said the regulator could step in if an internal inquiry into the making of the documentary is not satisfactory.

Presenters Gary Lineker and Anita Rani, and actors Riz Ahmed and Miriam Margolyes, are among more the 500 media figures who had condemned the withdrawal from iPlayer.

Former BBC One controller Danny Cohen, who was among those wanting the BBC to pull the programme, has called for a full independent inquiry.

A BBC spokeswoman said: “We take these issues incredibly seriously which is why we have commissioned (director of editorial complaints and reviews) Peter Johnston to lead a full fact-finding review. That work has commenced.

“It is vital that this work moves quickly, but it must also be thorough and get to the answers we are seeking.”