BBC Have I Got News for You sparks 'bias' row over 6-minute rant against Farage WITHOUT opposing view

Nigel Farage and Ian Hislop

The panellists launched a six-minute rant about Farage

Getty/BBC
Olivia Gantzer

By Olivia Gantzer


Published: 08/06/2024

- 06:00

Updated: 11/06/2024

- 11:57

Viewers tuned into the BBC show weren't happy as they fumed 'we see it'

The BBC has been accused of "biased" content after the latest Have I Got News for You instalment saw the panellists burst into a lengthy rant about Nigel Farage.

Regulars Ian Hislop and Paul Merton were joined by stand-in host Alex Horne and guests Carol Vorderman and Jack Dee, with the group sticking to the same narrative during the tirade.


Merton remarked of Farage: "He's got the publicity that he sought because he said he wasn't going to and then a week later he did - and he's become the leader of the party and he stayed in Clacton."

He continued: "It's the seventh attempt, is it? Or eighth attempt to become an MP?"

"Eighth," Vorderman chimed before Hislop added: "He's standing in Clacton.

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"This is the place he said, a few weeks ago when he didn't want to become an MP, he said if he were to become an MP, it'd be far too much work and he said 'I don't want to spend every Friday for the next five years in Clacton.' That's flattering, isn't it, to your electorate?"

Ian Hisop and Carol Vorderman

Hislop blasted Farage and compared him to Trump

BBC

Hislop also seemed to confuse net zero migration with no migration at all when he argued: "Farage did a couple of interviews this week and in all of them he was just very close to losing it when confronted by reality.

"He's just pure Trump, isn't he? He thinks 'I'll just call everyone boring, make stuff up.

"Farage's one policy - 'we're having net zero immigration,' the first time he's asked about it in a proper interview, and they said 'well surely we have the following skilled workers in,' and he says 'yeah, we'll have them, we'll have them, we'll have them.'

"600,000... So that's not net zero, is it, Nigel?" However, net zero migration refers to the number of people entering the UK should equate to the number of people emigrating.

Nigel Farage

Farage was the subject of a rant between the panellists

PA

Fans weren't impressed by the lack of alternative views given on the subject, and many rushed to social media to slam the "biased" discussion.

Taking to X, one person fumed: "The BBC has been massively biased. Very Anti-Brexit, Anti-Trump, Anti-Tory, Pro Mass Immigration, were Pro Lockdown, Pro going Green etc. Just look at the panelists', jokes and audiences in Questiontime, HIGNFY etc. over the last 10 years."

"Was thinking #HIGNFY was getting back to the middle ground and being neutral again. Today, they have the deranged Carol Voderman on. Back to normal BS from the BBC," another shared.

Responding to criticism about the BBC's debate which aired before the discussion show, another pointed out: "Have I Got News for You, the program which followed was anti-Farage as well. BBC for you."

"The hand-picked audience, the close-up of the nodding dog constantly, followed by “Have I Got News for You” that dedicated 75 per cent of the programme slagging off Farage. We see it BBC," someone else remarked.

Have I Got News For You

Fans complained about the BBC show

BBC

Another added: "Watched Have I Got News For You tonight and realised why I haven’t watched it for the last 3 years. @realHIGNFY @BBCOne Party Political Broadcast on behalf of the Labour Party. @DefundBBC."

"What followed the BBC Debate was Have I Got News for You. In both, the same herd instinct," another echoed.

Others disagreed, with one person commenting: "I wish the Have I Got News For You team would do an all-night show covering general election results on 4th/5th July."

GB News has contacted the BBC over the claims of bias by the viewers.

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