The BBC has received nearly 700 complaints about the historian and broadcaster David Starkey’s claim that “whites have become black” during a discussion about last week’s riots on Newsnight.
Of those contacting the BBC, 696 were protesting about Starkey’s comments, and 21 complained the debate was chaired poorly and he was treated “unfairly”.
The media regulator Ofcom also had complaints and an online campaign by an organisation called gopetition.co.uk demanding that the BBC issue a public apology for “unacceptable comments” had attracted more than 3,600 signatures by mid-afternoon.
The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, described Starkey’s comments on race as “disgusting and outrageous”. Speaking at Haverstock school, his former school in Chalk Farm, north London, Miliband said it was “absolutely outrageous that someone in the 21st century could be making that sort of comment”. He added: “There should be condemnation from every politician, from every political party, of those sorts of comments.”
Starkey’s remarks, during a debate about the riots on Friday’s Newsnight, provoked immediate controversy, with the BBC business editor Robert Peston tweeting: “David Starkey’s nasty ignorance is best ignored, not worthy of comment or debate – though I fear there will be a media feeding frenzy.” more