Judge to decide on mayoral candidate's BBC 'censorship' case

A High Court judge will today decide whether the BBC ‘politically censored’ a London mayoral candidate’s party election broadcast, just one day before polling booths open.

The Christian Choice candidate, Alan Craig, instructed the Christian Legal Centre to file papers for a Judicial Review at the Royal Courts of Justice after the BBC told him to remove parts of his party election broadcast which was aired last Wednesday evening.

Cllr Craig, a long-standing campaigner against the London 'mega-mosque', due to be built in Newham close to the site of the Olympic Games, originally described the organisation behind it, Tablighi Jamaat, as ‘separatist’. However, BBC officials responsible for supervising the broadcast instructed him to moderate his views and change this description of the Islamic organisation if he wanted it aired. Cllr Craig claims not only ‘political interference’ by the broadcaster, but says such action breeches his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of speech. The CLC said that Cllr Craig changed the word to “controversial” only under duress. Read more
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