Eurosceptic Conservative MPs have demanded that the BBC’s coverage of the United Kingdom’s referendum on European Union membership should be subjected to inspection by “an impartiality adjudicator”.
The amendment, tabled by a number of long-serving MPs, including Bill Cash, John Redwood, Peter Bone and Christopher Chope, is due to be debated next week when the legislation begins its committee stage hearings in the Commons.
“The broadcasting impartiality clause would need to be in place during the referendum itself and provide independent adjudication and correct any justified complaint within one day,” declared Cash.
In March, the Commons European Scrutiny Committee headed by Cash issued a highly critical report on the BBC, saying it needs “to improve substantially the manner in which it treats EU issues”.
Meeting refused
Relations between the Cash committee and the BBC’s director-general, Tony Hall, deteriorated after he refused for a considerable period to appear before them, arguing the BBC is not accountable to parliament for its journalism.
Meanwhile, an amendment has also been tabled to block British prime minister David Cameron from holding the referendum in May next year, alongside elections for the Stormont, Cardiff and Edinburgh parliaments and the London mayoralty battle.
The Labour Party is opposed to doubling up on the elections, while Democratic Unionist Party MP Nigel Dodds has already said such a move “would taint the referendum at source, and that would fail utterly to give the clarity on this issue that we all want”.
“With polls as important as the three devolved contests and the Greater London Authority elections in the offing, in our view there can be no question of the EU referendum being held on the same day,” said the North Belfast MP.
He went on: “I can envisage no circumstances in which my party would support the EU referendum being held either before the devolved polls or on the same day as any other ballot.”
Questioned by Labour’s acting leader, Harriet Harmon, in the Commons, the prime minister – who favours keeping all timing options open for now – refused to give a guarantee that the elections and the referendum will not be held together.
“My view is that the timing of the referendum should be determined by the timing of the renegotiation – when the renegotiation is complete, we set a date for the referendum. I do not think it should be determined by the timing of other elections,” he said.
The referendum on whether the UK should abandon its first-past-the-post election voting rules took place alongside the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly elections in 2011.
Clear principle
“I think people are capable of making two decisions, but, as I say, the timing of the referendum should be determined by the timing of the renegotiation; that is the clear principle,” Mr Cameron declared.
The Scottish National Party promised strong opposition to any such plan, saying it would be “simply unacceptable”.
