:00:00. > :00:20.Welcome to Newswatch. Later on the programme: This man was on our
:00:21. > :00:25.screens again this week. Is the BBC giving Nigel garage too much air
:00:26. > :00:30.time? Was coverage of the new US administration's travel ban balanced
:00:31. > :00:31.and impartial, or did it pander to a growing anti-tromp hysteria? --
:00:32. > :00:40.Nigel Farage. The Prime Minister's visit the US at
:00:41. > :00:43.the end of last week to meet President Trump was the subject of
:00:44. > :00:48.considerable media analysis. Not least the moment when the two
:00:49. > :00:53.appeared briefly holding hands. But some people were more exercised by a
:00:54. > :01:02.question put at a news by the BBC's correspondent.
:01:03. > :01:06.You said before that torture works, you've praised Russia, you said you
:01:07. > :01:09.wanted to ban some Muslims from coming to America, you've suggested
:01:10. > :01:14.there should be punishment for abortion. For many people in Britain
:01:15. > :01:18.those sound like alarming beliefs. What do you say to our viewers at
:01:19. > :01:21.home who are worried about some of your views and worried about you
:01:22. > :01:28.becoming the leader of the free world? That was your choice of a
:01:29. > :01:36.question? There goes that relationship. So, did one question
:01:37. > :01:39.from a reporter had the potential to damage the special relationship?
:01:40. > :01:43.Some thought it might have done and that our correspondent needed
:01:44. > :01:47.lessons in diplomacy. Here is Donovan Chapel... I was left
:01:48. > :01:50.guessing at the motives of asking such a provocative question to
:01:51. > :01:59.somebody so easily provoked as Donald Trump. -- Jonathan Chapel.
:02:00. > :02:05.Was it to undermine the relationship of the two leaders? Or was it the
:02:06. > :02:10.BBC trying to make the news rather than report it? Or was the
:02:11. > :02:13.correspondent showboating her question skills? Whatever the
:02:14. > :02:21.motives, asking that question to Donald Trump in that forum lacked
:02:22. > :02:27.emotional intelligence. Had Donald Trump taken offence to the question
:02:28. > :02:34.it could have had an impact on the future prosperity of the UK economy
:02:35. > :02:38.as a whole. The BBC and Laura Chris Burke are in a privileged position
:02:39. > :02:46.to be able to ask questions at press conferences like this. -- Laura
:02:47. > :02:51.Kuensberg. Don't abuse the privilege. Coverage of Donald
:02:52. > :02:57.Trump's presidency continued to exercise Newswatch view was, in
:02:58. > :03:04.particular the BBC's reporting of the petition against Donald Trump
:03:05. > :03:18.making a state visit to Britain. Add the ban of seven countries' visitors
:03:19. > :03:21.to the US. -- and the ban. The list of countries was originally drawn up
:03:22. > :03:26.by the Obama administration. It wasn't invented by tram. Many Muslim
:03:27. > :03:31.countries themselves pose a travel ban on the citizens of many
:03:32. > :03:36.countries, including UK citizens, simply because they have visited
:03:37. > :03:45.Israel. There has been little evidence of fare on biased reporting
:03:46. > :03:49.showing both sides of the story. It isn't anti-Muslim, it is
:03:50. > :03:52.anti-terrorist. But reporters keep trying to push this question into
:03:53. > :03:58.the face of anyone they can to get an impact from viewers.
:03:59. > :04:01.On Monday's BBC News, apart from the briefest of interviews with three
:04:02. > :04:10.people on Staten Island who had not been outraged by this band, no
:04:11. > :04:15.interviews were made about the many people in the US who are not
:04:16. > :04:25.outraged by this executive order. -- ban. This petition is open to
:04:26. > :04:33.fraudulent signatures. Many people are not outraged and haven't signed
:04:34. > :04:41.this. The problem is that those who are not outraged are not deemed to
:04:42. > :04:46.be covered by the BBC. Donald Trump's claims about fake
:04:47. > :04:51.news and the media can only gain credibility if responsible news
:04:52. > :04:56.organisations like the BBC fail to give our unbiased, accurate and
:04:57. > :05:00.honest news reporting, or fair and balanced debates and discussions.
:05:01. > :05:06.That debate will continue. There was one BBC programme that had a clear
:05:07. > :05:11.defence of President Trump's travel ban, Sunday Politics, and the guest
:05:12. > :05:17.was Nigel Farage. Andrew Neil began by asking him if he agreed with the
:05:18. > :05:21.President's decision to ban Syrian refugees indefinitely from entering
:05:22. > :05:26.the United States. There are several countries on that list. He's
:05:27. > :05:32.entitled to this. I didn't ask you if he was entitled. But isn't my
:05:33. > :05:36.point. I ask if you agreed to stop I do. If you look at what is happening
:05:37. > :05:40.in France and Germany. If you look at Angela Merkel's policy on this,
:05:41. > :05:47.which was to allow anybody from anywhere in, look at what it has led
:05:48. > :05:50.to. The former leader of Ukip went on to decide his views on
:05:51. > :05:53.immigration and on the government process on leaving the EU. The
:05:54. > :05:57.interview produced a strong reaction from viewers, many of whom have
:05:58. > :06:02.objected before about the frequency of his appearances on BBC news
:06:03. > :06:08.bulletins and programmes such as question Time. Two viewers reported
:06:09. > :06:15.their thoughts on camera. -- Question Time. This isn't a balance.
:06:16. > :06:19.This is a platform. His constant appearances on radio as well as the
:06:20. > :06:22.BBC iPlayer to contribution in anti-immigrant sentiment in this
:06:23. > :06:28.country that has happened in the last few years. I think it's time
:06:29. > :06:34.the BBC recognised that Nigel Farage isn't just some politician that you
:06:35. > :06:38.wheel on to give a microphone into when people say nice things about
:06:39. > :06:44.refugees, he is a rallying point. -- give a microphone to.
:06:45. > :06:51.He is treated as good box office. Photographs of him in pubs. Hugely
:06:52. > :06:56.disproportionate access to other political programmes on the BBC. By
:06:57. > :06:59.doing so and by not challenging him. Partly because he was treated in the
:07:00. > :07:04.first place as light entertainment and good box office, they have
:07:05. > :07:08.helped him to put things, without challenge, that actually affected
:07:09. > :07:13.the whole way the debate moved. This happened from the very beginning.
:07:14. > :07:16.It's only in the last two years he has started to be challenged. And by
:07:17. > :07:24.that time the normalisation had happened. Why did you have Nigel
:07:25. > :07:28.Farage on the programme? The main stories worm Theresa May's visit to
:07:29. > :07:32.Washington and a subsequent story which has dominated the headlines
:07:33. > :07:36.this week over Donald Trump's travel ban. The other big story of the week
:07:37. > :07:43.was on Brexit and the Commons debate about the passage of Article 50.
:07:44. > :07:46.Those were the big stories. Nigel Farage was a guest and an
:07:47. > :07:51.appropriate guest on both of those stories. He was the first British
:07:52. > :07:57.politician to meet Donald Trump after his election. And he was a
:07:58. > :08:03.massive player in the referendum campaign. A lot of you say he isn't
:08:04. > :08:11.Ukip leader now and he may not be as close to Trump as he claims to be.
:08:12. > :08:14.We regularly on the BBC invite former politicians onto our
:08:15. > :08:18.programmes. Former leaders. Ed Miliband was on the BBC this week,
:08:19. > :08:22.for example, Nick Clegg is a regular guest on our programmes. It isn't
:08:23. > :08:25.unusual that we should invite somebody onto the programme who is
:08:26. > :08:32.not currently leader of their party. But they are both MPs. Nigel Farage
:08:33. > :08:39.has never been an MP. He is an MEP. He was elected such. He is also
:08:40. > :08:43.leader of his party's political group in the European Parliament. He
:08:44. > :08:48.is still a person of some influence. A lot of viewers say he is easy
:08:49. > :08:52.ratings and always has been. You know when you invite him on he will
:08:53. > :08:56.say something controversial. He represents a strand of political
:08:57. > :08:59.thinking in the UK. There is no doubt about that. As party leader he
:09:00. > :09:05.had a track record of political success. So, for example, his party
:09:06. > :09:12.came first in the European elections in 2014. The general election in
:09:13. > :09:19.2015, the party in the popular vote came third. This is someone... We
:09:20. > :09:25.are not able to exclude him from our programmes. He has a track record of
:09:26. > :09:29.electoral success. And he does represent a strand of political
:09:30. > :09:32.thinking in British politics. Many people do find what he says
:09:33. > :09:36.offensive. Particularly as we heard in those of your comments. His
:09:37. > :09:41.comments on immigration in the current climate, people feel he has
:09:42. > :09:44.stirred up anti-immigrant sentiment. Do you think it is responsible to
:09:45. > :09:51.have him up? Not everybody will like what he says. We will get people on
:09:52. > :09:55.our programmes some people will disagree with. It isn't just that
:09:56. > :09:58.they disagree, it is whether it is responsible when some people feel
:09:59. > :10:03.there is a growing climate of tension around immigration and the
:10:04. > :10:07.BBC chooses to have someone viewers feel have views that are staring up
:10:08. > :10:10.anti-immigrant sentiment. We can't be involved in making value
:10:11. > :10:17.judgments about politicians. Ethical judgments. They can't. Not when they
:10:18. > :10:21.come from a major party. Ukip is a major party, there is no doubt about
:10:22. > :10:26.that. We can't be making value judgments about whether what they
:10:27. > :10:32.have got to say is morally dubious. That isn't our role. We are an
:10:33. > :10:36.impartial broadcaster. There was no evidence Nigel Farage has said
:10:37. > :10:40.anything illegal. That's never been a risk. He shouldn't be treated any
:10:41. > :10:46.differently than any other politician from the other major
:10:47. > :10:51.parties in the UK. You work on Sunday Politics And Daily Politics.
:10:52. > :10:55.A lot of viewers were concerned about how often he is invited onto
:10:56. > :11:02.BBC programmes, including Question Time. Using the BBC has him on too
:11:03. > :11:11.often? He has on a radio programme, as well. It is only the second time
:11:12. > :11:16.he has been on Daily Politics. I think he has made half a dozen
:11:17. > :11:20.appearances either as part of a panel or part of discussions on BBC
:11:21. > :11:26.television over the past six months. I don't think that is too great a
:11:27. > :11:30.number. On our programmes, of course, Andrew Neil is a robust
:11:31. > :11:33.interviewer. We always want politicians of the highest calibre
:11:34. > :11:39.from whatever political party. Thanks very much.
:11:40. > :11:43.And thanks to all of you who recorded or send us your views on
:11:44. > :11:45.this this week. Your opinions could feature on next
:11:46. > :12:00.week's programme. You can contact us:
:12:01. > :12:06.You can watch previous discussions on our website, as well. That is all
:12:07. > :12:09.from us. We will be back to hear your thoughts about BBC News
:12:10. > :12:10.coverage again next week. Goodbye.