Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, 大象传媒 One, 13 November 2022

Complaint

In this edition of the programme Laura Kuenssberg interviewed the Head of the Armed Forces Sir Tony Radakin. 聽A viewer complained Sir Tony was asked about the war in Ukraine on Remembrance Day which in their opinion unduly politicised the occasion. 聽The ECU considered whether the complainant had identified a breach of the 大象传媒 guidelines on impartiality.


Outcome

The ECU reviewed the programme and noted it considered a number of important political topics, in particular the forthcoming Autumn Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer who was interviewed about the prospects, as was his opposite number, Rachel Reeves. 聽The programme also included a preview of the Remembrance Sunday event, which followed on 大象传媒 One, in which Sophie Raworth interviewed an ex-serviceman who was blinded in the Falklands War. It then returned to the studio when Ms Kuenssberg interviewed Sir Tony.

The interview took in a number of subjects. 聽Ms Kuenssberg mentioned the absence of Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth at the ceremony and asked Sir Tony to comment before questioning him about the war in Ukraine, defence spending, a report of an incident involving Russian aircraft firing a missile close to RAF fighters and the importance of respecting and responding to minorities in the Armed Forces.

In the ECU鈥檚 view, in the context of a programme such as Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg viewers would not have been surprised at the range of subjects covered in the interview and Sir Tony was entitled to make a connection between current events and Remembrance Day as he thought appropriate.
Not Upheld