‘Free of the shackles’: Michael Grade’s GB News defence raises concerns over relaxing of Ofcom rules

In a recent interview, Lord Grade said of meeting broadcasting rules: ‘It’s not difficult to comply; sometimes it’s only a sentence in a script.’ Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty View image in fullscreen In a recent interview, Lord Grade said of meeting broadcasting rules: ‘It’s not difficult to comply; sometimes it’s only a sentence in a script.’ Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty ‘Free of the shackles’: Michael Grade’s GB News defence raises concerns over relaxing of Ofcom rules Former figures at regulator voice disquiet after series of provocative interviews by recently departed chair Regulators are not generally known for courting controversy. When the day job involves making delicate, legally fraught decisions, they tend to be a circumspect bunch. However, since stepping down as chair of Ofcom, one of Britain’s most scrutinised watchdogs, the Conservative peer Michael Grade has been doing his best to buck that stereotype. “I’m free of the shackles,” he recently said. Despite disquiet among many broadcasters over Ofcom’s alleged lack of challenge to GB News , the rightwing network that has brought a partisan brand of broadcasting to Britain, Lord Grade opted to give a series of interviews provocatively pushing back. BBC Radio 4’s Today programme could “absolutely” have a politician presenting it, he said. “Why not?” Later, he went further . GB News’s critics were “embarrassed” because the channel “speaks to the agenda of the majority”, he said, citing Brexit and immigration. View image in fullscreen Tony Blair is interviewed on the BBC’s Today programme. Grade suggested that a politician could ‘absolutely’ present the show. Photograph: BBC “They’ve actually got better and better [in meeting broadcasting rules],” he said. “It’s not difficult to comply; sometimes it’s only a sentence in a script.” It was a punchy departure. There is a problem, however. Figures involved in drawing up the impartiality rules that apply to Britain’s broadcasters think Grade has misunderstood the rules his regulator was tasked with enforcing. Ofcom ex-chair: broadcasters embarrassed by GB News following ‘majority agenda’ Read more Others think his approach is a more deliberate drive to dial back broadcasting impartiality rules, facilitating GB News’s approach in the process. “This debate has been going on inside certain parts of broadcast media for about three years,” said Stewart Purvis, a former chief executive of ITN and a former Ofcom content and standards partner. “Now we have the retiring chairman of Ofcom pretty much confirming some of the things we’ve been complaining about and doing it in a very colourful way. It is actually quite shocking … This is classic out-of-thehorse’s-mouth stuff.” Other former Ofcom figures are equally troubled. “I thought it reflected a complete misunderstanding of how the impartiality legislation is set out in the Communications Act, how it is set out in the broadcasting code and how it should be applied,” said Chris Banatvala, Ofcom’s foundi