UK Culture Secretary Says She Lobbied BBC To Change Policy On Calling Hamas “Terrorists” During Private Board Meeting
deadline.comThe UK Culture Secretary has said she lobbied the BBC during a private board meeting to refer to Hamas as “terrorists” in its news coverage.
Lucy Frazer, who has previously said publicly that the corporation should use the term when referring to the group, was put under pressure this morning at a Culture, Media & Sport Committee hearing by committee member John Nicolson over the meeting with BBC head honchos including the Director General that took place late last year.
Nicolson quoted people who attended the meeting and told him they had been “baffled” by Frazer’s insistence to eschew discussing issues like the licence fee settlement and instead continue to “repeat points about Gaza.” “I am told you kept coming back to it,” said Nicolson.
Frazer stressed that a range of points were discussed at the meeting including the license fee settlement but recalled urging the BBC to change its tack on Hamas. “We discussed the position of the BBC not referring to Hamas as ‘terrorists’,” she said. “I put points to the BBC in a private meeting about something I had said publicly about the reasons why I thought their guidance allowed them to refer to Hamas as ‘terrorists’, and I put forward a number of points as to why.
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