'A dangerous step towards autocracy!' GB News CEO issues letter over 'chilling' Welsh Senedd ban

It comes after it was announced earlier this week that the Welsh parliament had taken the decision to ban the channel from being shown on TVs on the Senedd estate.

A spokesperson for the Llywydd accused the channel of being "demeaning to public debate" and of broadcasting content that was "contrary to the parliament's values".

WATCH: WELSH politicians respond to GB News ban

In his letter to Senedd members, Frangopoulos said: "The Commission’s decision to remove GB News from internal televisions in the Welsh Parliament strikes at the bedrock of a free press and its role in a liberal democracy.

"An elected government that shuts out a legal media outlet, simply because some dislike or disagree with it, is taking a bold and dangerous step towards autocratic rule."

He explained that GB News is regulated by Ofcom and also highlighted that politicians from across the political spectrum regularly appeared on the channel.

He continued: "Plurality in media is core to any democracy - when GB News launched in 2021, we broke up a duopoly in British television news broadcasting that had lasted 34 years.

"Diversity of opinion is overwhelmingly healthy for any free-thinking society, and this is core to our mission at GB News. We genuinely welcome all perspectives and never exclude a legal, non-hateful view because we disagree with it.

"It is notable that audiences across the UK are turning to GB News in increasing numbers. Last month, we beat Sky News 36 per cent of the time across our schedule, and BBC News for 28 per cent of the time, according to the latest BARB data.

"To us, free speech isn’t just about speaking, it is also about listening – to all citizens and elected politicians, whatever their political persuasion."

Some Senedd members have already expressed their anger at the decision, with Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies saying the decision should "worry us all".

In a separate letter to Llywydd Elin Jones herself, Frangopoulos urged for the Senedd Commission to "re-consider your decision to remove GB News from internal televisions".

"Banning GB News from your parliament has no impact on our business, but the impact and meaning of your actions is deeply symbolic: it strikes at the bedrock of the role of a free press in a liberal democracy," he said.

"A government that censors a legal media outlet, simply because some members don’t like it, is effectively deciding which citizens can be heard in the halls of power, and who cannot.

"I hope you agree that this is a bold and chilling step which has, perhaps inadvertently, overstepped the mark."

GB News has contacted the Llywydd's office for comment.

READ ANGELOS FRANGOPOULOS' LETTER IN FULL:

Dear Members of the Senedd,

I have written today to the Chair of the Senedd Commission to express my deep concern at the chilling media censorship it has demonstrated on your behalf this week.

The Commission’s decision to remove GB News from internal televisions in the Welsh Parliament strikes at the bedrock of a free press and its role in a liberal democracy.

An elected government that shuts out a legal media outlet, simply because some dislike or disagree with it, is taking a bold and dangerous step towards autocratic rule.

GB News is a licensed broadcaster, regulated by Ofcom. We employ more than 250 journalists drawn from all respected media. We are also members of the Westminster Political Pool alongside BBC News, Sky News, and ITN.

Plurality in media is core to any democracy - when GB News launched in 2021, we broke up a duopoly in British television news broadcasting that had lasted 34 years.

Diversity of opinion is overwhelmingly healthy for any free-thinking society, and this is core to our mission at GB News. We genuinely welcome all perspectives and never exclude a legal, non-hateful view because we disagree with it.

It is notable that audiences across the UK are turning to GB News in increasing numbers. Last month, we beat Sky News 36% of the time across our schedule, and BBC News for 28% of the time, according to the latest BARB data.

To us, free speech isn’t just about speaking, it is also about listening – to all citizens and elected politicians, whatever their political persuasion.

In the last week alone, we have broadcast exclusive interviews with Sir Keir Starmer and, from the Shadow Cabinet: David Lammy, Jonathan Ashworth, Wes Streeting, Bridget Phillipson, Pat McFadden, Steve Reed, Nick Thomas-Symonds, and Baroness Chapman.

Your own First Minister Mark Drakeford appeared on the channel last week, as did Welsh Secretary David TC Davies.

Our interviews with Labour backbenchers this month include Clive Betts, Lloyd Russell- Moyle, Siobhain McDonagh, Lord Mann, Steve McCabe, Navendu Mishra, and George Howarth. Labour Mayors Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan have also appeared.

In his St David’s Day message this year, Mark Drakeford said: "Today's modern Wales is a country of innovation, inclusivity - and, most importantly of all, kindness.”

These are our values too, which is why I am so troubled by remarks from the Senedd Commission’s spokesperson on Tuesday, that GB News is “deliberately offensive, demeaning to public debate and contrary to our parliament’s values”.

Nothing is further from the truth.

We are committed to the values set out in our Editorial Charter, and if a presenter breaches this, we take swift action to remove them, as we had occasion to do last month.

We believe diversity of opinion should never be at the expense of personal insults or abuse. Certainly, it has no place at GB News.

Media should be a choice and as we know, more than 50% of the world does not enjoy a free press as we know it in the United Kingdom.

Naturally, you are as free to watch GB News – or not watch it – as anyone else, but the outright banishing of a mainstream media outlet is a simply terrifying assault on any tolerant and free-thinking elected body.

Kind regards,

Angelos Frangopoulos
Chief Executive Officer