Huge: ex-BBC journalists accuse BBC of ‘lying’ over ‘near impossible’ Johnson wreath clip error

Damning testimony from former BBC staff dismisses claim BBC showed 2016 footage instead of Boris Johnson’s 2019 disrespect was ‘error’

Earlier, the SKWAWKBOX reported that the BBC had attempted to dismiss as an ‘error’ their use of 2016 footage of Boris Johnson placing a wreath at the Cenotaph, instead of 2019 footage in which Boris Johnson three times disrespected fallen troops.

Yesterday, a dishevelled Johnson messed up the timing of his part in the wreath-placement ceremony, insulted the memory of the fallen by placing his red wreath upside-down – and stood with his attention clearly wandering during the 11am silence.

But this morning, the BBC showed a neatly-groomed Johnson placing a green wreath in 2016, during a segment supposed to show yesterday’s Remembrance Day service, neatly covering Johnson’s sloppiness.

The BBC attempted to justify the incorrect footage by saying the clip was used in ‘error’.

But former BBC journalists have dismissed the ‘error’ claim as ‘near impossible’:

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BTW I am an ex BBC producer, but in radio comedy, so I won't pretend I know the protocols for News, and I can vouch for the clunky, awkward user-unfriendly systems generally in use there, but I won't give the BBC the benefit of the doubt. I don't accept their explanation.

— Rich Turner says Johnson is a mass murderer (@TheRichTurner) November 11, 2019

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As a former producer on BBC Breakfast, I think you need to explain this more fully. The edit avoided showing the Prime Minister placing his wreath upside down on the Cenotaph. He was also dishevelled. It's not your job to make the PM look good. https://t.co/D7Ulj5f1R8

— Patrick Howse (@Baghdaddi) November 11, 2019

This is not the first such ‘error’ by the BBC. In 2017, as Corbyn made a storming Commons speech destroying Philip Hammond’s Budget, the BBC instead ‘accidentally’ showed footage of Corbyn’s speech from six months earlier.

Instead of the fluent, confident Labour leader owning the room in the way that he had done consistently since the supposedly ‘shock’ General Election result, viewers saw a different response entirely.

SKWAWKBOX view:

The BBC’s ‘error’ hid Boris Johnson’s triple disrespect for fallen troops yesterday, in a period when broadcasters are obliged to report political events impartially in the run-up to the general election.

The claim that it was a mistake was convenient cover – but at least two former BBC journalists have dismissed the claim and at least one has directly accused their former employer of lying to the public to cover up political complicity.

The journalists deserve praise for standing up for truth. As for BBC News – long run by Tories, it seems it has abandoned even the pretence of impartiality.

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