The BBC has been forced to issue a grovelling apology to Nigel Farage following a furious row sparked by last night’s edition of Newsnight.
The Reform UK leader’s lawyers sent a furious letter to the broadcaster’s director-general this morning, demanding the apology and issuing other demands amid accusations Mr Farage had been defamed by the programme’s host.
Newsnight presenter Matt Chorley repeatedly misquoted Mr Farage’s response to the Henry Nowak murder, claiming three times that the Reform leader said it should spark ‘white cold rage’ from the British public.
But Mr Farage actually said ‘pure, cold rage’ in his emergency broadcast yesterday morning.
This afternoon, the broadcasting behemoth said it had issued a private apology to Mr Farage directly and published a public version on its website.
The corporation also promised to broadcast a further apology at the start of tonight’s episode of Newsnight.
In addition, last night’s episode has been removed from the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds.
But it remains to be seen whether Mr Farage is satisfied with the apologies, after his lawyer issued a list of additional demands this morning.
Nigel Farage said Britons should respond with ‘pure, cold rage’ to the murder of Henry Nowak
Host Matt Chorley repeatedly claimed Mr Farage had called for ‘white, cold rage’
Mr Farage’s counsel accused the show’s host of ‘racialising’ the politician’s response to the tragic murder.
It blasted: ‘It converts a criticism of discriminatory conduct by the authorities into an apparent appeal to race.
‘It suggests that Mr Farage, far from condemning racialised treatment, was himself invoking race as a basis for public anger.
‘In a national debate in which his opponents are already accusing him of inflaming racial tension, that alteration is not inaccuracy at the margins.
‘It is seriously defamatory, and on the material available it was deliberate.’
The four-page letter also cited evidence that the misquote had been ‘delivered from notes’, suggesting it was scripted before the question was put to Mrs Badenoch.
They argue: ‘That raises an obvious and serious question as to how those words entered the programme’s production materials, and why no one checked them’.
Mr Chorley posted his own apology on X this morning, but the lawyer said this was not enough.
The lawyer letter issued three key demands, which Reform branded ‘non-negotiable’.
These were that, firstly, the BBC publish a full written apology to Mr Farage on the BBC website and pin the apology to the top of its relevant social media accounts for seven days.
Secondly, the corporation must broadcast ‘a full apology on air on Newsnight’ with ‘due prominence’, then share the on-air apology on the programme’s social media accounts.
Thirdly, Reform is demanding a ‘proper investigation’ into how the false quotation came to be said three times during the broadcast, and how they entered production materials without being checked.
Mr Chorley issued a personal apology to the Reform leader on his X account this morning
The BBC has been given until 4pm on Friday to issue a substantive response to Mr Farage’s lawyer
Mr Farage’s counsel also included a stark warning that, given the row is now subject to potential legal proceedings, all documents and materials relating to the broadcast ‘must not be deleted, overwritten or otherwise destroyed’.
Reform’s lawyer said that until all three demands are met, neither Mr Farage nor any representative from Reform UK will appear on any BBC programme or platform.
The letter included a threat that Mr Farage may sue the BBC for damages should the party not be satisfied with the BBC’s response to his demands.
The lawyer has given the BBC until 4pm on Friday to provide their substantive response.
The letter comes just days after The Mail on Sunday reported claims that the BBC’s flagship radio programme, Desert Island Discs, has ‘banned’ Mr Farage on the grounds that his presence would make woke staff ‘feel unsafe’.
On Sunday, Mr Farage warned: ‘I have come to expect nothing less from the BBC – their blatant bias has been obvious for years.
‘The BBC will have a rude awakening under a Reform government.’
