26 Jan 2009

BBC condemned for blocking charity broadcast

Fifty-one MPs will today urge the BBC to back down over its refusal to screen an emergency appeal for humanitarian aid to Gaza. Richard Burden, the Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield, will table an Early Day Motion stating that the House of Commons is "astonished" by the broadcaster's decision not to show the appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee because it would "threaten the impartiality of its news reporting".

Yesterday, members of the Stop the War protest group occupied the BBC's Glasgow offices, saying they would stay in the building until the corporation agreed to air the DEC's fundraising advert for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

independent.co.uk