It has been revealed that 268 of the BBC TV comedy slots are filled by comedians who have publicly admitted left-leaning views.
It has long been claimed by conservatives and other right-wingers that the BBC has a liberal bias. Now, an audit by the Campaign For Common Sense (CCS) has found evidence of it.
An audit of the BBC’s entertainment sector carried out last month has found that, out of the 364 comedy shows that aired, only four featured comedians with obvious conservative or pro-Brexit beliefs.
This meant that 268 shows featured comedians with publicly known ‘woke’ or left-leaning views. These included Adam Hill, Nish Kumar and Frankie Boyle.
Frankie Boyle has stated on Twitter that: “Boris Johnson said contingency plans were made for his death. That’s true – I’ve bought fireworks.”
Mr Kumar also makes jokes about right-leaning politicians on his show The Mini Mash Report, including on occasion saying “F*ck you, Boris Johnson.”
The audit looked at BBC 1, BBC 2 and Radio 4 respectively and found that 74% of its comedians across the channels held “woke” views.
This has led to CCS Director Mark Lehain writing to the BBC Director-General, Tim Davie, asking him to tackle this issue. Mr Lehain has said the BBC is under-representing large parts of the UK and has too many woke jokes.
This has added momentum both to Tory MPs who are lobbying the PM to fight back against supposed BBC bias, and to the Defund The BBC campaign headed by Calvin Robinson.
The lobbying group, which currently consists of 25 MPs, is headed by senior backbencher and former Minister Sir John Hayes. The MP recently wrote to Mr Johnson.
In the letter, he urged the PM to decriminalise the licence fee in order to “defend British traditions and values … to stand against the senseless woke whingers and soulless militants who despise the best of Britain”.
