Eurosceptic MPs have tabled an amendment to the EU referendum bill calling for the BBC and other broadcasters to be monitored by a new regulator to ensure impartiality in coverage of the in/out vote.
The 18 backbench MPs, led by Bill Cash, have tabled a proposal for a “referendum broadcasting adjudicator” to be created to “ensure impartiality” of news coverage.
The amendment to the EU referendum bill, which will be debated next week, proposes that the regulator would be would be able to order the correction of any justified complaint in as little as one day.
Complaints about the BBC are currently dealt with by the BBC Trust, while Ofcom regulates the output of ITV, Channel 4, Sky and other broadcasters.
Section 5 of the Ofcom code states: “to ensure that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality”.
Conservatives including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Owen Patterson, as well as Labour’s Kate Hoey, have backed the proposed amendment.
“The BBC is already committed to impartiality under the terms of its charter and editorial guidelines,” said a BBC spokesman.
The BBC has a fraught relationship with Cash, who heads the Commons European scrutiny committee.
In March, the committee published a report criticising the BBC saying it needs “to improve substantially the manner in which it treats EU issues”.
The BBC director general, Tony Hall, refused to appear before the committee for a considerable period of time, arguing that the corporation is not accountable to parliament for its journalism.
