On Tuesday 18 June, Wales Green Party was notified about its exclusion from Friday’s election debate, hosted and broadcast by the BBC. However, the broadcaster have decided to give Reform UK a platform. This has sparked outrage across social media with some people suggesting it amounted to electoral interference:
❗ BBC Wales has excluded us from Friday’s election debate – while giving Reform a platform.
We’ve just sent this letter to decision-makers at the BBC.
SHARE this everywhere to let them know you want them to #InviteTheGreens pic.twitter.com/OY99YgtRpe
— Plaid Werdd Cymru | Wales Green Party (@WalesGreenParty) June 18, 2024
Green Party: blocked by the BBC again
The BBC‘s impartiality guidelines, which at this point are as useful as a sunroof on a submarine, were brought into question yet again. Only two days ago the Canary reported on the BBC‘s bias in promoting right-wing voices, while seemingly ignoring those on the left:
I see this as election interference. We’re seeing Reform and Nigel Farage constantly on our screens and this clearly demonstrates that the BBC are promoting Reform in this election. This is disgraceful conduct.
— Tess Howell 💚🐝 🌳🌍🐋💙 (@Treeztrunkz) June 18, 2024
I cannot understand why Reform and the hideous Farage keep being given so much air time when they have been such a irrelevance. This is electoral interference through the media. https://t.co/xX2RcTh2wi
— Miss Gryffindor Ghost (@BavarianTravels) June 19, 2024
Importantly, the Green Party of England and Wales have actually had seats in parliament. This is in contrast to Reform, whose gormless figureheads get off on controversy and spewing hatred but wouldn’t make it past security at Westminster.
The Green Party currently hold over 800 seats in 170 different councils in England. Wales Green Party has eight councillors. Yet Reform have a pathetic 16, with none in Wales.
Notably, of the nine councillors solely representing Reform UK, the public did not elect a single one for the party. All of them defected from the Conservatives, and several did so after people made serious allegations against the candidate:
The map on the left: areas where the @WalesGreenParty has been elected.
On the right: areas where Reform UK has been elected.
It’s hard to come to any other conclusion: the UK media is biased in favour of the far right. https://t.co/kyYfrJgsWd pic.twitter.com/3NzGKZOzyX
— Adam Turner 🏳️🌈 (@AdamWJT) June 18, 2024
How can @BBCWales exclude the Greens (who have 800 councillors in UK) but still invite representation from Reform UK, (a Fascist racist xenophobic privately millionaire owned business).
Election interference by the BBC?#InviteTheGreens
— Art of Kuriology (⧖) 〓〓 (@strangecurios) June 18, 2024
Overwhelmed by the number of people contacting us who object strongly to this unjustifiable decision by @BBCWales
How can it be fair or democratic to exclude @WalesGreenParty while including a party with no elected representation in Wales.
Voters in Wales deserve better. https://t.co/l9v2T4Ef4O
— Anthony Slaughter (@as_penarth) June 18, 2024
Previously, the Canary has covered the BBC’s exclusion of the Green Party’s Zack Polanski – an elected London assembly member. It seems that the BBC are still doing everything in its power to keep the Green’s out of the conversation:
Do your job. You are a public sector broadcaster. One of the best in the world. The producer who made this decision has got it horribly wrong. Come out and apologise and stop trying to keep a truly progressive party down, whilst platforming fly-by-night populist parties! https://t.co/Jy1cbdsJH6
— Cllr Scott Ainslie 💚 (@GreenPartyScott) June 19, 2024
Why @BBCWales are you interfering in the election by deliberately excluding @WalesGreenParty from your election debate? But you’ve invited Farage’s Reform Party 🤷♀️
Why are you happy with this undemocratic bias @Rhuanedd @TeleriGlynJones @jamswilliams85 ? https://t.co/m8erzvMqHB— pennygalesa🍃💚🍃 (@pennygalesa) June 18, 2024
Right-wing bias
It’s also worth noting that there are many candidates standing in the election who have better credentials and are far more popular than Nigel Farage or Reform UK.
For example, George Galloway, a six-term parliamentarian who has 728,000 followers on X. He is standing for the Workers Party of Britain in Rochdale; was previously elected in Rochdale, and the party also has councillors.
Similarly, 2.6m people follow Corbyn. Of course, again, this far more than Farage – and the BBC still doesn’t give Corbyn the time of day.
But what were we expecting?
We saw how the corporate media absolutely obliterated Corbyn when he was leader of the Labour party. It stands to reason that they would do exactly the same to anyone else with remotely left-wing ideas:
The is is unconscionable bias from the BBC Wales.
There’s clearly a BBC agenda to keep anything remotely LW away from studios. https://t.co/ktecLSUprP
— Mr V – Labour RIP 🇵🇸 (@LordMVee) June 18, 2024
@BBCWales @BBCPolitics This is how you prove to us that you’re pro right wing and trying to squash the one left wing party that’s in with a chance. BBC impartiality is now a myth from the mists of ancient times. There’s no excuse and no other explanation available. https://t.co/Rfh3NVCuJI
— Jill Rowan (@JillRowan1) June 19, 2024
All Western nations have been sucked in by the fast-food reality makeover of politics. That Reform and Farage get such big platforms is ridiculous and harmful and dangerous. https://t.co/s4VHwIf0Yk
— Shanika W-M (@Shanika_WM) June 18, 2024
So once again, the BBC is platforming literal extremists with huge egos who have zero representatives elected in parliament. Meanwhile, it goes out of its way to sideline the Green Party in favour of these muppets. The BBC is ignoring even mildly left-wing views, and it’s doing its very best to make such that on polling day, the electorate does too.
Featured image via the Canary
