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GB News: Why MPs can’t be newsreaders

GB News: Why MPs can’t be newsreaders

Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, has told GB News it’s “on notice” over breaches of impartiality rules after 12 upheld complaints since its 2021 launch, with eight more under review. Further breaches may result in sanctions – which can include a correction, or the shortening, suspension or revoking of a licence. The network broke the rules banning MPs from presenting the news on five occasions in May and June 2023 with Jacob Rees-Mogg, Esther McVey and Phil Davies acting as newsreaders rather than hosts. Part-owned by hedge fund boss Sir Paul Marshall, GB News is struggling as a business, losing £42 million last year. But the channel’s three million viewers include over half of Tory party members, giving it influence in government policy and any future leadership contest (Conservative Home’s deputy editor Henry Hill says no leadership hopeful can ignore it). GB News said the Ofcom ruling was a “chilling development… for everyone in the United Kingdom”.


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