PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
BBC Arabic Service (11 March 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 8 March 2021 to Question 159293, Israel: BBC Arabic Service, whether his Department's grant-in-aid to the BBC World Service is conditional on editorial impartiality; and what assessment he has made of the impartiality of that service's editorial line on matters relating to Israel.

Asked by:
Bob Blackman (Conservative)

The FCDO does not provide grant-in-aid funding to the BBC World Service. Through the World2020 Programme we provide funding for digital enhancements to the BBC Arabic service. The BBC is editorially and operationally independent from Government, so it would not be appropriate to agree objectives of this kind with the BBC. Questions about impartiality or perceived bias are matters for the BBC Board.

Answered by:
Sir James Cleverly (Conservative)
18 March 2021