BBC viewers have been left up in arms following Tuesday evening’s show as Victoria Derbyshire welcomed independent MP, Diane Abbott, singer Billy Bragg, and Palantir boss Louis Mosley to the programme.
On the agenda was inevitably the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool following Sir Keir Starmer’s appearance on the main stage on Tuesday.
BBC Newsnight: Diane Abbott joined Victoria Derbyshire’s panel on Tuesday night
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BBC
Now, it’s independent MP Ms Abbott who’s facing backlash for her comments about Mr Farage while appearing on the BBC show.
Speaking to host Ms Derbyshire about the threat Mr Farage poses to Mr Starmer, Ms Abbott said on Tuesday night: “He’s only got five MPs, and the danger is…
“I’m all for people giving him a good kicking, Wes Streeting did that this morning, but the danger is if you give him too much free publicity, you turn him into a bigger figure than he is.
“The thing about Reform is I’m old enough to remember the SDP [Social Democratic Party]. At one point, the SDP had massive polls, all the mainstream papers stood to the head, all the stars of the era, and their polling lead collapsed.
BBC Newsnight: Diane Abbott came under fire for her Farage comments
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BBC
“And you’ve got to remember, this is Nigel Farage’s third party, and I think people shouldn’t be too frightened of his polling lead, because he can be beaten.”
Ms Abbott’s comments about Mr Farage “getting a kicking” quickly sparked fury with viewers at home, as did Ms Derbyshire’s refusal to challenge her choice of language.
But the MP wasn’t done there. Mr Bragg soon chipped in to the conversation: “Starmer talked about this, the politics of grievance. Brexit ultimately was a vote of grievance.
“You know, people talked about the European Union, but many people voted because they wanted to see an end to mass migration, and they didn’t get that. So I actually disagree with Diane.
BBC Newsnight: Victoria Derbyshire failed to challenge Abbott on her comments
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BBC
“I think actually the more we talk about Reform, the more we put them under the microscope, the fact that they’re, you know, in the coming year, they may get some councils, more councils, they may make headway in Scotland and Wales, and we get to see how they operate on the ground, I think then we’ll be able to really start to tell a story about the country.”
Ms Abbott weighed back in to take aim at Reform UK voters: “You’re too sophisticated, Billy. The ordinary voter, they just see Reform as Nigel Farage, and they go, ‘Oh, oh, oh’, but you just said, what’s next? I’ll tell you what’s next in May. Scotland, Wales, and a lot of big cities, and then we’ll see where we are.”
Ms Derbyshire commented: “Well, I mean, there are many ones to go, of course, but they’re effectively the midterms for Labour. I mean, they’re not going to be amazing, are they?”
“That’s what I understand,” Ms Abbott replied. “Talking to Welsh colleagues and Scottish colleagues, they don’t think they’re going to be amazing.”
Nigel Farage hit back at Labour’s attacks in a speech on Tuesday
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PA
After clips of the discussion were shared on X by the Newsnight’s verified account, the show quickly found itself bombarded with complaints about both Ms Abbott’s comments and Ms Derbyshire’s failure to pick her up on it.
“Obviously, this isn’t acceptable, BBC are appalling for not challenging the use of language and then retweeting it out for even more publicity,” one X user fumed.
“So if someone indeed does take Abbott’s words literally, then the BBC needs to be prosecuted for incitement. @Ofcom needs some involvement.”
A second also weighed in to point out: “A good kicking? Imagine if that was said about her??”
BBC Newsnight: Billy Bragg also took part in the discussion
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BBC
“Terrible, imagine if someone said to give Dianne Abbott a good kicking. Not acceptable,” a third agreed.
While a fourth echoed: “Not even a thought to challenge the inappropriate language – when labour eventually go (& they will) I hope they take the partisan BBC with them.”
Elsewhere, a fifth hit out: “So, for the @BBC, violent speech against any public figure is acceptable … PROVIDED it comes from a prominent left-wing person.”
And a sixth fumed: “This is unacceptable language, and you should have challenged Dianne on it. It is time to wind down the language before we have another politically motivated tragedy (although it would seem that the BBC would be for it).” (sic)