Tory MP Accuses BBC of 'Appalling Bias' Over Yemen Report
A Conservative MP has accused the BBC of "appalling bias" in a report about the war in Yemen.
Press Association
12 September 2015, 00:00 BST
A Conservative MP has accused the BBC of "appalling bias" in a report about the war in Yemen.
Daniel Kawczynski, a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, engaged in angry on-air exchanges with Newsnight host James O'Brien over what he said was an one-sided "agenda".
The bust-up was sparked by a report from the country which centred on allegations that a UN-sanctioned bombing campaign by a Saudi-led coalition of Gulf states aimed at ousting extremist Houthi rebels from the capital was hitting civilian targets.
The programme broadcast footage from the remains of a water bottling plant where it said it found no evidence to support Saudi claims that it was being used as a training camp amid calls for an investigation into possible war crimes.
Mr Kawczynski, who was chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Saudi Arabia, said the report should also have featured evidence of the atrocities committed by the rebels.
Asked repeatedly if there should be an investigation, he said: "The coalition forces of 10 countries are doing everything possible to limit civilians casualties and Newsnight are deliberately trying to falsify the situation on the ground.
"I fundamentally dispute your coverage of the entire situation in Yemen. You and Newsnight are trying to peddle a completely false prospectus to the British people of the situation on the ground," he added.
"You have an agenda against the Gulf States coalition and you want to peddle a myth that only one side is responsible for atrocities. The BBC and Newsnight are acting in a completely disgraceful way."
Pressed for his view, he went on: "You are trying to deliberately mislead the British people and you are trying to cast some sort of aspersion on the United Kingdom for selling defence capability to Saudi Arabia.
"I have been watching most of the day-to-day coverage from all sorts of news channels around the world and particularly from al-Jazeera and Arab channels, and I can tell you that the coverage they are giving of this war is very, very different.
"You have sent a reporter out there at the licence fee's expense who keeps referring to a bottling plant in the middle of the desert. You show all these plastic bottles and you say you have found no evidence that it was used as a training centre.
"Of course you wouldn't find any evidence. Any evidence of nefarious purposes would have been disposed of or taken away before the BBC journalist turns up.
"It's time people stood up to the appalling bias of the BBC."
In a parting shot, he suggested criticism would not be accepted "because the BBC is omnipotent and such an important organisation that never makes any mistakes and is supreme. Of course, that's right, yes."
Press Association
12 September 2015, 00:00 BST
A Conservative MP has accused the BBC of "appalling bias" in a report about the war in Yemen.
Daniel Kawczynski, a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, engaged in angry on-air exchanges with Newsnight host James O'Brien over what he said was an one-sided "agenda".
The bust-up was sparked by a report from the country which centred on allegations that a UN-sanctioned bombing campaign by a Saudi-led coalition of Gulf states aimed at ousting extremist Houthi rebels from the capital was hitting civilian targets.
The programme broadcast footage from the remains of a water bottling plant where it said it found no evidence to support Saudi claims that it was being used as a training camp amid calls for an investigation into possible war crimes.
Mr Kawczynski, who was chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Saudi Arabia, said the report should also have featured evidence of the atrocities committed by the rebels.
Asked repeatedly if there should be an investigation, he said: "The coalition forces of 10 countries are doing everything possible to limit civilians casualties and Newsnight are deliberately trying to falsify the situation on the ground.
"I fundamentally dispute your coverage of the entire situation in Yemen. You and Newsnight are trying to peddle a completely false prospectus to the British people of the situation on the ground," he added.
"You have an agenda against the Gulf States coalition and you want to peddle a myth that only one side is responsible for atrocities. The BBC and Newsnight are acting in a completely disgraceful way."
Pressed for his view, he went on: "You are trying to deliberately mislead the British people and you are trying to cast some sort of aspersion on the United Kingdom for selling defence capability to Saudi Arabia.
"I have been watching most of the day-to-day coverage from all sorts of news channels around the world and particularly from al-Jazeera and Arab channels, and I can tell you that the coverage they are giving of this war is very, very different.
"You have sent a reporter out there at the licence fee's expense who keeps referring to a bottling plant in the middle of the desert. You show all these plastic bottles and you say you have found no evidence that it was used as a training centre.
"Of course you wouldn't find any evidence. Any evidence of nefarious purposes would have been disposed of or taken away before the BBC journalist turns up.
"It's time people stood up to the appalling bias of the BBC."
In a parting shot, he suggested criticism would not be accepted "because the BBC is omnipotent and such an important organisation that never makes any mistakes and is supreme. Of course, that's right, yes."
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