GB News fined £100,000 by Ofcom over Rishi Sunak programme

GB News has been fined £100,000 for breaking impartiality rules over a programme featuring Rishi Sunak, Ofcom has said.

The regulator announced in May that the show called People's Forum: The Prime Minister was found to have broken broadcasting rules.

GB News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos said the fine was a "direct attack on free speech and journalism in the United Kingdom".

"We believe these sanctions are unnecessary, unfair and unlawful," he added.

The hour-long show, which aired on 12 February, saw members of the public put questions to the then-prime minister. However, it received more than 500 complaints.

Mr Frangopoulos said the programme "was an important piece of public interest programming" and said "appropriate steps" were taken to ensure due impartiality and compliance with the Ofcom broadcasting code.

"It was designed to allow members of the public to put their own questions directly to leading politicians," he added.

GB News is challenging the breach decision by judicial review and Ofcom will not enforce the sanction decision until those proceedings are concluded.

In May, Ofcom found that while featuring Mr Sunak was fine in principle, "due weight" should have been given to an "appropriately wide range of significant views" other than the Conservatives'.

The regulator said the then-prime minister "had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his Government in a period preceding a UK General Election".

"We have therefore recorded a breach of rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code against GB News," it added.

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