Despite Director-General Tim Davie’s insistence that BBC employees will face sanctions for breaking impartiality rules online, it seems a few stars still just can’t help themselves. After sneering at Robert Jenrick for displaying a union flag in his office during a BBC Breakfast interview this morning, Naga Munchetty took to Twitter to continue the fun, liking gems such as ‘the flag shaggers will be up in arms’ and ‘[this] should be done every time the Tories roll out one of their talking head ministers’. Exactly what you’d expect from an impartial broadcaster…

The BBC’s impartiality rules are quite explicit on their employees’ social media use. New guidance released in October says:

“Nothing should appear on your personal social media accounts that undermine the perception of the BBC’s integrity or impartiality.

[…] Be wary of ‘revealed bias’, whether through likes or re-posting other posts, so that a bias becomes evident, and ‘inferred bias’ where a post is impartial but loose wording allows readers to infer a bias where there is none.

[…] Avoid ‘virtue signalling’ – retweets, likes or joining online campaigns to indicate a personal view, no matter how apparently worthy the cause.”

With Davie’s announcement today that the Beeb will be moving thousands of jobs out of London to try and reconnect with the rest of the country, Naga hasn’t timed her stunt particularly well. Naga is a repeat offender and clearly believes she is untouchable and the rules don’t apply to her. BBC Breakfast is already filmed in Salford…