BBC Newsnight has been slammed for its “biased” coverage of Diane Abbott’s return to the Labour Party by an investigative journalist.
Paul Holden tore into the programme’s reporting on Abbott’s readmission to the party following a year-long suspension, highlighting that the BBC had refused to cover sexual remarks made about the veteran MP by one of Keir Starmer’s top aides.
Starmer's director of strategy Paul Ovenden quit Downing Street last year over an “inappropriate” conversation he had with colleagues while working as a Labour press officer in 2017.
The leaked messages showed Ovenden discussing sex acts involving Abbott with two female staff members.
Last Thursday, Newsnight focused on Abbott’s readmission to Labour for more than half the programme , with Holden suggesting afterwards the broadcaster’s editorial judgement is “all over the place”.
During the show, journalist Nicholas Watt spent three minutes reading out comments from Labour figures who were unhappy about her readmittance to the party, while Labour MP Bell Ribero-Addy tore into presenter Adam Fleming for misrepresenting her comments during a heated interview.
Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, was also given considerable airtime on the panel to speak against Abbott’s readmission.
Holden, whose book The Fraud exclusively revealed the messages by Ovenden, said on Twitter/X Newsnight is a “pale shadow of what it once was”.
He said: “It seems the majority of last night's episode centred on the re-admission of Diane Abbott to the Labour Party, presented in a heavily-slanted and biased tone.
“The questioning and comments put words into Abbott's mouth and adopted the most negative interpretation of her version of events.
“Yet Newsnight has repeatedly refused to report on stories about abuse and misconduct towards Diane Abbott.
“The messages I presented to Newsnight were damning of Ovenden. They show him making deeply unpleasant, offensive and sexualised jokes about Diane Abbott. Yet Newsnight refused to cover the messages.
We need to talk about @BBCNewsnight . It seems the majority of last night's episode centred on the re-admission of Diane Abbott to the Labour Party, presented in a heavily-slanted and biased tone. The questioning and comments put words into Abbott's mouth and adopted the most… https://t.co/YF33hUnfQE
— Paul Holden (@pauleholden) July 31, 2026
“It was plainly in the public interest for them to be reported.”
Abbott was suspended from the party in July last year after repeating comments about racism for which she had previously apologised.
She said she had also been “issued with a formal warning” over a separate tweet in which she referred to the Israel Defence Force as the “Jewish Defence Force” and was “deeply sorry for any hurt caused by that conflation”.
The year-long suspension was the second time Abbott had had her Labour membership suspended after she had previously been investigated by the party over a letter to the Observer in 2023 in which she suggested that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice, but not racism.
Holden said he went to the BBC with the Ovenden messages in August last year but he never heard back from anyone about coverage despite Newsnight initially showing interest.
He said ITV “leapt” on the comments after Holden proved their “legal provenance and authenticity” which ultimately led to Ovenden’s downfall.
Nicholas Watt spends three minutes on Newsnight explaining how some Labour MPs are unhappy with Diane Abbott being readmitted to the Labour party pic.twitter.com/StHEUniPEv
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) July 30, 2026
“There was simply no good reason for Newsnight not to report the Ovenden messages,” he said.
Holden’s comments also came following what was described as a "surreal" interruption during a Newsnight panel discussion on a row between Zack Polanski and Reform UK earlier that same week.
The Green Party leader was grilled on the evening programme by Victoria Derbyshire after he inadvertently shared, and then removed, a post which featured a man wearing a black T-shirt with the message “We’re only making plans for Nigel” and an image of a guillotine.
During a live panel discussion that followed the interview – which Polanski remained on set for – Watt interrupted the broadcast to read out live reaction from Reform UK to the interview.
Holden said of this: “This was astonishing for all sorts of reasons. There was simply no good reason why the Reform (source) was unnamed, but I was genuinely amazed at how rapidly and without any seeming editorial discussion Newsnight was airing texts in the moment when it sat for weeks twiddling its thumbs over the Ovenden material.
“I've seen how the BBC exercises its editorial judgment, how cautious its many diligent reporters are about due process, fact-checking and impartiality. Yet when it comes to Newsnight, it's all over the place.
“This past week has been further evidence that Newsnight is a pale shadow of what it once was.”
The BBC has been approached for comment.
