Channel 4’s Dispatches sting on former foreign secretaries Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw did not unfairly represent the MPs as “politicians for hire”, the media regulator has said.
Ofcom opened an investigation into the programme, a joint operation with the Daily Telegraph, following criticism of its reporting of the allegations and after Rifkind and Straw were cleared by the parliamentary standards watchdog.
The programme used secret filming to allege that the MPs offered their political connections to earn money from commercial companies.
Ofcom said that there was a “significant public interest” in exploring the conduct of the MPs and that in the circumstances undercover filming was “proportionate and warranted”.
Kathryn Hudson, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, had said that the damage done to the former MPs could have been avoided if Dispatches and the Telegraph had accurately reported the exchanges they had filmed.
However, Ofcom said in its 38-page ruling that the filming was an “accurate representation” of the discussions the MPs held.
“We considered that the programme’s presentation of the statements made by Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Mr Straw during the secretly filmed meetings did not give a misleading impression of their conduct in a way which was unfair to them,” said Ofcom in its ruling. “And the programme-makers took reasonable care to satisfy themselves that material facts were not presented, disregarded or omitted in a way that was unfair to them. The presentation of the secretly filmed footage was an accurate representation of the discussions.”
The programme alleged that Straw boasted to undercover journalists that he had operated “under the radar” to use his influence and change EU rules on behalf of a firm that paid him £60,000 a year. A recording obtained with a hidden camera shows Straw saying: “So normally, if I’m doing a speech or something, it’s £5,000 a day, that’s what I charge.”
Rifkind reportedly claimed to be able to gain “useful access” to every British ambassador in the world. Journalists recorded him describing himself as self-employed, even though he earned a salary of £67,000 as MP for Kensington: “I am self-employed – so nobody pays me a salary. I have to earn my income.”
Ofcom ruled that Channel 4 had taken reasonable steps to avoid “unfair and unjust” treatment of the MPs, making sure their views were fairly aired.
“There was sufficient balance, by the inclusion of statements by the MPs that they were aware of the parliamentary rules and their responsibilities as MPs, in the programme such that it did not unfairly represent the MPs as ‘politicians for hire’,” said Ofcom. “[The programme] allowed viewers to make their own minds up as to whether or not they thought the conduct shown fell short of public expectations for MPs’ conduct.”
The programme, which aired on 23 February, and Telegraph articles led Straw to suspend himself from the parliamentary Labour party and Rifkind to step down as the chairman of parliament’s intelligence and security committee and as an MP.
“We are delighted this important piece of public service journalism has been thoroughly vindicated by the independent regulator,” said Daniel Pearl, Channel 4’s deputy head of news and current affairs and Dispatches editor. “This was a rigorously detailed investigation which paid scrupulous attention to fairness and accuracy at all times. We are pleased that Ofcom has recognised that the secretly filmed comments, ‘accurately represented the discussions that took place between the MPs and the undercover reporters’.”
