Oliver Dowden slams ‘sneering’ BBC mockery of minister’s union flag

Oliver Dowden today slammed BBC presenters over ‘sneering’ mockery of a minister’s union flag and Queen portrait.

The Culture Secretary hit out at Breakfast hosts Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty saying the corporation had a duty to reflect the opinions of the whole UK, rather than just the metropolitan parts.  

The intervention comes after an awkward interview with Robert Jenrick on the flagship BBC programme, during which Stayt joked that the flag in his office was not up to ‘standard size’. 

After the episode Boris Johnson told MPs that the BBC was ‘pretty detached’ from many of its viewers, and he hoped it would move ‘more into line’. New guidance has also since been issued for the union flag to be flown every day at government buildings – not just on special occasions. 

Mr Dowden was asked about the row as he spoke to Times Radio today, and insisted that the broadcaster had a duty to show ‘genuine impartiality’. 

‘They do need to reflect all different parts of the United Kingdom, not just the Brightons and the Bristols and the Hackneys of this world but also the Leighs and the Dudleys and the Boreham Woods of this world,’ he said. 

‘Sometimes comments like the ones we saw in that interview begin to stray from banter into a sneering… against attitudes that are held by many many people in this country.’

The BBC insisted last week that it was ‘proud to be British’ after a furious backlash at Stayt and Munchetty.

Asked about the row, the PM said: ‘We need to recognise on the whole that there is a great deal of instinctual metropolitan bias in the BBC newsroom. 

‘It’s pretty clear from the whole Brexit experience that the BBC was pretty detached from a lot of its viewers and listeners and I hope they move more into line.

‘We need to think about that with all the commonsensical ways we have.’

Stayt, 58, had mockingly told Mr Jenrick: ‘I think your flag is not up to standard size Government-interview measurements. I think it’s just a little bit small.’

A laughing Munchetty was then heard to comment: ‘They had the picture of the Queen there as well, though’.

The controversy continued later when Miss Munchetty, 46, ‘liked’ insulting tweets about the British flag including a reference to ‘flag sh*****s’ being ‘up in arms’.

She later removed the ‘likes’ and wrote: ‘These do not represent the views of me or the BBC. I apologise for any offence taken.’

Since becoming director-general last year Tim Davie has launched a crackdown on the way news stars behave on social media, as part of his moves to tackle impartiality issues at the broadcaster. 

MPs had written to Mr Davie saying they had been ‘inundated with complaints’ from constituents following the flag row.

They called for Stayt and Munchetty to be ‘reprimanded’ and to ‘apologise for their conduct’. 

They added that the attitudes on the programme were inappropriate and disrespectful.

In response Mr Davie repeated that the BBC was ‘proud of the UK’ and that it took their complaints seriously. 

Last week, the BBC announced a huge shake-up to make the corporation less London-centric, in its ‘biggest transformation in decades’.

Some 400 roles – around half of those in BBC News – will be relocated outside London.

Guidance set out last week makes clear that Union flag should be flown on all UK Government buildings every day in a bid to unite the nation.

Up to now, Union flags were only required to be flown on designated days.

Government ministers said the changes would be a ‘proud reminder of our history and the ties that bind us’.