Liam Fox has demanded a meeting with the BBC’s director general in a letter where he complains that the corporation consistently runs negative stories about the economic effects of Brexit.
The international trade secretary wrote to Tony Hall to ask for a face-to-face meeting about the coverage, which the Liberal Democrats said was the behaviour of “a tin-pot dictator”.
In the letter, Fox said he “could not recall a single time in recent times when I have seen good economic news that the BBC did not describe as ‘despite Brexit’”.
Fox said there was a “clear pattern of unbalanced reporting of the EU economy” by the BBC. He accused the corporation of ignoring annual foreign direct investment figures released by the Department for International Trade, despite receiving the data.
Fox also said the corporation had turned down an interview with him about his recent visit to Paris. “I understand that the BBC cannot cover every story and I appreciate too that, despite its best efforts, the corporation cannot always guarantee total impartiality,” the letter said.
“However, I believe that we are now seeing a clear pattern of unbalanced reporting of the UK economy and, when it comes to the work of my department, evidence of the corporation wilfully ignoring positive economic data when we publish it.”
The Lib Dem chief whip, Alistair Carmichael, called the letter “a blatant attempt at intimidating the BBC and undermining the independence of our media”.
“The BBC shouldn’t be bullied into publishing government propaganda and has rightly stood its ground,” Carmichael said. “Liam Fox is acting like a tinpot dictator. He can’t blame the media for his inability to deliver on all the trade deals promised by the Brexiteers.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We do not recognise the characterisation of our coverage outlined in the letter, but the BBC is always happy to talk with politicians as we always do on a regular basis.”
Fox’s missive to the BBC came after similar accusations were levied by the Commons leader Andrea Leadsom, who suggested on BBC Newsnight earlier this month that it “would be helpful if broadcasters were willing to be a bit patriotic”.
