Anyone who owns a television set in the UK is obliged, by law, to pay a licence fee which has always enabled the BBC to exist as an independent entity. But a recent Sunday Times article (paywalled) has announced the UK government’s intention to abolish the BBC licence fee. Read the rest of this entry »
The BBC had a poor election and a poor Brexit, being accused of political bias by both Left and Right, both Leave and Remain. It tends to respond in such circumstances that this shows that it has got the political balance of its coverage about right. Read the rest of this entry »
The BBC transmitted an edition of Panorama on 10 July called ‘Is Labour Anti-Semitic?’, presented by John Ware. It contained allegations that senior Labour figures close to Jeremy Corbyn had interfered with the internal investigations process and that the Party was insufficiently committed to tackling anti-semitism within its own ranks. Read the rest of this entry »
The BBC has announced that it will not seek permission to appeal against the judgment of Mann J awarding Sir Cliff Richard privacy damages of £210,000 ([2018] EWHC 1837 (Ch)). Read the rest of this entry »
Mr Justice Mann today handed down judgment in the case of Sir Cliff Richard OBE v BBC [2018] EWHC 1837 (Ch)). The Judge held that the BBC’s reporting infringed Sir Cliff’s privacy rights. General and aggravated damages of £210,000 were awarded. A further hearing will be held to assess special damages. Read the rest of this entry »
In XKF v BBC former police officer applied for relief restraining the broadcast by the respondent BBC of an interview of him recorded near his home. Read the rest of this entry »
On the last day of the trial in the case of Sir Cliff Richard v BBC, Mr Justice Mann heard the final closing submissions from the BBC’s Counsel, Gavin Millar QC. Judgment was reserved and will be handed down at a later date. Read the rest of this entry »
A senior BBC editor told Mr Justice Mann that he had no concerns about the broadcasting of images taken from a helicopter during coverage of a police search of Sir Cliff Richard’s home nearly four years ago. Read the rest of this entry »
The BBC might have faced criticism if it had not reported that Sir Cliff Richard was the subject of a police investigation, an editor has told a High Court judge. Gary Smith told Mr Justice Mann that the BBC could have been accused of not reporting a matter of high public interest because the singer was a high-profile figure. Read the rest of this entry »
The trial in the case of Sir Cliff Richard v BBC began today before Mr Justice Mann in Court 15 of the Rolls Building. The day was taken up with the opening submissions of Justin Rushbrooke QC for Sir Cliff and Gavin Millar QC for the BBC. Read the rest of this entry »
Inforrm's Blog