Ofcom Investigates Possible Rule Breach on David Lammy’s LBC Show

Ofcom Investigates Possible Rule Breach on David Lammy's LBC Show

London (Parliament News) – Ofcom investigates David Lammy’s LBC show over possible rule breach after receiving over 50 complaints. Recent warnings to TalkTV were also noted.

Broadcasting regulator Ofcom has undertaken an investigation into David Lammy’s show on LBC over matters that it violated rules on politicians operating as news presenters. In a statement, the regulator stated it would investigate the shadow foreign secretary’s performance on March 29 after acquiring more than 50 complaints.

Did David Lammy’s LBC Show Break Rules?

According to the Standard, the Labour frontbencher has hosted the Sunday morning play since 2022. During the show on March 29, Mr Lammy disregarded the news that DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had quit as head of the party after being accused of several historical sexual offences.

Global, the company which manages LBC, has been contacted for a remark. It comes just weeks after Ofcom supervised that three Tory MPs who “served as newsreaders” across five different episodes while being the lead presenter of their GB News schedules had broken broadcasting rules on due neutrality.

Did David Lammy Violate Broadcasting Rules?

The regulator’s investigation involved shows that were presented individually by former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, minister without portfolio Esther McVey and backbencher Philip Davies. Their violations involved Sir Jacob talking on May 9 about a ruling involving former US president Donald Trump’s civil rehearsal and Ms McVey and Mr Davies speaking on May 12 about train strikes, the UK economy, a court case concerning the Duke of Sussex and a teenager who was being punished for terrorism offences.

Are Politicians Allowed to Host News Shows?

Ofcom stated that because the politicians “served as newsreaders, news interviewers or news reporters in series which constituted news – including reporting breaking news events – without special justification, the news was, therefore, not given with due impartiality”

It went on: “Politicians have an inherently partisan role in society and news content presented by them is likely to be considered by audiences in light of that sensed bias. “In our view, the use of politicians to deliver the news risks undermining the integrity and credibility of regulated broadcast news.”

Did Complaints Trigger Ofcom’s Investigation on Lammy?

Also on Monday, Ofcom cautioned TalkTV following Julia Hartley-Brewer’s hectic exchange about the Hamas-Israel war with Palestinian politician Dr Mustafa Barghouti on her show but refused to launch an investigation.

Ofcom said Ms Hartley-Brewer’s comments “had the potential to be highly objectionable to viewers” but due to their “brevity” and “audience anticipations of this presenter and programme, which often features evocative viewpoints” did not reach the threshold for a probe.

“While TalkTV’s position is that Ms Hartley-Brewer’s words were not motivated by Dr Barghouti’s religion or ethnicity, we realise that many complainants apprehended them to be so. Given this, the statements had the potential to be highly offensive to observers, irrespective of the intent of the presenter,” it added.

“We are therefore giving strong guidance to TalkTV on the need to bring greater care to ensure that potentially highly abusive comments are justified by the context in order to concede with the Broadcasting Code. We hope the broadcaster to take this guidance into account in forthcoming programming.” The episode acquired more than 17,000 objections.

Daniele Naddei

Daniele Naddei is a journalist at Parliament News covering European affairs, was born in Naples on April 8, 1991. He also serves as the Director of the CentroSud24 newspaper. During the period from 2010 to 2013, Naddei completed an internship at the esteemed local radio station Radio Club 91. Subsequently, he became the author of a weekly magazine published by the Italian Volleyball Federation of Campania (FIPAV Campania), which led to his registration in the professional order of Journalists of Campania in early 2014, listed under publicists. From 2013 to 2018, he worked as a freelance photojournalist and cameraman for external services for Rai and various local entities, including TeleCapri, CapriEvent, and TLA. Additionally, between 2014 and 2017, Naddei collaborated full-time with various newspapers in Campania, both in print and online. During this period, he also resumed his role as Editor-in-Chief at Radio Club 91.
Naddei is actively involved as a press officer for several companies and is responsible for editing cultural and social events in the city through his association with the Medea Fattoria Sociale. This experience continued until 2021. Throughout these years, he hosted or collaborated on football sports programs for various local broadcasters, including TLA, TvLuna, TeleCapri, Radio Stonata, Radio Amore, and Radio Antenna Uno.
From 2016 to 2018, Naddei was employed as an editor at newspapers of national interest within the Il24.it circuit, including Internazionale24, Salute24, and OggiScuola. Since 2019, Naddei has been one of the creators of the Rabona television program "Calcio è Passione," which has been broadcast on TeleCapri Sport since 2023.