BBC backs Geeta Guru-Murthy over ‘very white’ crowd comment

The BBC has said news presenter Geeta Guru-Murthy was correct to describe the crowd at a Brexit rally as “very white”, on the basis that it was an accurate description of those in attendance.

Hundreds of people complained to the BBC after Guru-Murthy commented on the ethnicity of Brexit supporters celebrating in Parliament Square on 31 January, as Britain prepared to leave the EU.

The BBC rejected the complaints about the news broadcast and said it stood by Guru-Murthy’s description of the Brexit supporters in attendance, which was given in the context of questions about attitudes towards immigration.

”The presenter’s comment about the crowd being mainly white came when she was interviewing three women who had come to the event. One of them had said she could now, after Brexit, be proud of the Union Jack,” the BBC said.

“Geeta Guru-Murthy used the comment about the ethnicity of the crowd to move the discussion on to immigration and Brexit supporters’ desire for more controls. Her question was whether this desire for more immigration controls had the effect of not being welcoming to black and ethnic minority people – which had been an issue that was discussed during and after the referendum campaign and a reasonable question on the night the UK was leaving the EU.”

Many of those in the crowd had given their main reason for voting for Brexit as controlling immigration and as such “commenting on the ethnic mix of the crowd was giving context to the question”. The corporation also pointed out that none of the women interviewed was unhappy during or after the interview about the line of questioning.

The exchange received extra attention after a clip was circulated by Brexit supporters on Twitter, who accused the BBC of anti-Brexit bias. Analysis by the Guardian has previously suggested that pro-Brexit supporters have been more likely to flood the BBC complaints log with their objections than their remain counterparts.

The BBC also rejected hundreds of complaints about a Brexit special of the children’s television show Horrible Histories after it featured a repeat of a 2009 comedy song called “British Things”. The song pointed out that many items stereotypically associated with the UK are actually from overseas or the former British Empire.

The BBC insisted the show was not supposed to be anti-British and the song “accurately reflects the fact that many goods common in Britain during the Victorian era were harvested or produced by slaves in other countries.”

Last summer Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow was cleared by Ofcom after he said he had “never seen so many white people in one place” while reporting on a different Brexit rally outside parliament.