GB News has won a “landmark” victory over Ofcom after a High Court judge ruled the watchdog was wrong to accuse Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg of breaking the broadcasting code on his show. The Telegraph has the story.
GB News mounted a legal challenge after Ofcom concluded that GB News had breached regulations about the use of politicians as presenters in two programmes fronted by Sir Jacob.
In her judgment on Friday, Justice Mrs Collins Rice said the decisions were “vitiated by error of law” as the regulator had failed to distinguish between a news programme and a current affairs show.
She quashed the verdicts and sent them back to Ofcom to be reconsidered, adding: “I take no view of the merits or the possible outcomes of any such investigations or reconsideration either way.”
Ofcom will now be required to pay GB News’s legal costs.
Angelos Frangopoulos, Chief Executive of GB News, branded the judgment a “landmark decision that vindicates GB News’s position as the fearless defender of free speech in the United Kingdom”.
He added: “Our court victory is hugely significant for the entire British broadcasting industry. We are proud that we were the only media company prepared to have the courage of our convictions.
“Ofcom’s actions are unfair not just to television and radio licensees but to the people who Ofcom is ultimately supposed to serve our nation’s viewers and listeners.
“I call on the Government and Parliament to consider the seriousness of this fundamental failure by Ofcom.”
It marks the first time Ofcom has lost a legal challenge against one of its decisions relating to broadcasting standards.
The regulator will now look at widening rules to ban politicians from presenting current affairs shows. It may also launch a fresh investigation into the programmes, though it is understood no decision on whether to do so has yet been made.
A spokesman for Ofcom said: “We accept the court’s guidance on this important aspect of due impartiality in broadcast news and the clarity set out in its judgment.
“We will now review and consult on proposed changes to the broadcasting code to restrict politicians from presenting news in any type of programme to ensure this is clear for all broadcasters.”
The rulings related to two episodes of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s State of the Nation. In one, Sir Jacob interrupted the programme to cover the breaking verdict in a civil trial against Donald Trump. In the other, he interviewed a GB News reporter about a stabbing in Nottingham.
Ofcom ruled that these programmes, alongside two others presented by Esther McVey and Philip Davies, breached rules banning politicians from being used as news presenters.
However, lawyers for GB News argued that the regulator had wrongly interpreted its own rules in relation to Sir Jacob’s shows.
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