BBC, 'propaganda arm' of European Union

A view of a BBC logo on a gate near the entrance to the BBC Television offices in west London, on October 6, 2011

Sun Feb 5, 2012 4:13PM GMT


The old joke that the BBC is the Brussels Broadcasting Corporation may be true after all." Paul Nuttall


The BBC's impartiality has been called into question by British lawmakers after the corporation was accused of becoming the "propaganda arm" of the European Union.

The revelation came when the BBC admitted in a letter that it has received nearly £3million in grants from the EU since 2007, The Daily Telegraph disclosed.

It also acknowledged that its commercial arm the state-run BBC Worldwide has borrowed more than £141million from the European Investment Bank since 2003 -- and £30million is still due to be repaid by the end of May this year.

This is while questions have been raised about the uncritical tone of the BBC’s EU coverage. David Cameron’s veto of an EU treaty at the end of last year was reported from the perspective of Brussels -- rather than the British taxpayers who pay the wages of the vast army of BBC correspondents and executives.

Ukip MEP Paul Nuttall criticized the corporation and said, "The old joke that the BBC is the Brussels Broadcasting Corporation may be true after all."

In 2010, Jonathan Charles, the former BBC Brussels correspondent, admitted he and the BBC got carried away by the launch of the euro in 2002.

And Eurosceptic think-tank Global Britain found that over the past six years just 0.04 percent of coverage on Radio 4’s Today program was devoted to the potential benefits of withdrawing from the EU.

Tory MP Priti Patel also warned, "How can a public-service broadcaster demonstrate genuine impartiality on European issues if it is in receipt of EU funds?"

However, a BBC spokesman said, "Grants from the EU make up a relatively small proportion of the total figure. The vast majority of EU grants are used for research and development."
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