BBC Verify may be an avid fact-checker on some more centre-right outlets, though they aren’t known to to be quite so thorough on their some of their own content. Perhaps that’s why they’ve ramped up spending on the department. According to an FOI request from Guido, the BBC has recently moved a number of staff from other areas of news into the BBC Verify Team. As of the beginning of February 2024 there are 63 people with combined salary costs of a whopping £3.2 million…
Tory MP Andrew Percy blasted the revelation, saying:
“It is staggering that the licence fee payer is shelling out millions of pounds for the laughingly labelled ‘BBC Verify’ team. Far from upholding high standards of journalism, BBC Verify has on too many occasions been biased and pushed out misleading information to viewers and readers, the very opposite of verification!”
Now we know where the hike in the the licence fee is going…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”