Complaint
A viewer complained about a report concerning the proposed new Chinese Embassy in London. The programme said the position of the security agencies was that any security risks associated with the development could be mitigated. The complainant argued this was inaccurate because that position had been expressed by the Intelligence and Security Committee, which is a parliamentary committee rather than one of the security agencies. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The ECU found that the programme’s characterisation of the security agencies’ position was supported by evidence available at the time of broadcast. A joint letter from the Director General of MI5 and the Director of GCHQ, referred to in a statement to Parliament by the Security Minister, stated that while risks could not be wholly eliminated, a package of national security mitigations had been developed and that these dealt acceptably with a range of national security issues.
While it would be misleading to conflate a parliamentary committee with the intelligence agencies, the ECU did not find that the programme had done so. Given the position expressed by the heads of MI5 and GCHQ, the ECU concluded that the statement in the report was accurate.
Not Upheld