FORCES within the UK mainstream media “have been determined to create a viable far-right party in the UK”, Patrick Harvie has said, as he tore into the platforming of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The Scottish Greens co-leader spoke to reporters in Edinburgh following the launch of their General Election manifesto and insisted everyone should be concerned by the “inevitable reformulation” of the far-right in UK politics.
He expressed his disappointment with the way in which UK broadcasters in particular had sought to platform Farage and paint his "far-right" party as mainstream.
Harvie specifically called out the BBC for its Panorama interview with Rishi Sunak, which he claimed focused on Farage for a good 10 minutes.
Just this week, the BBC announced a second Question Time special because the first one – being broadcast on Thursday evening – will not involve Farage.
Harvie said he believed there was a clear “dominance” of a far-right mindset within the UK media.
He said: “We need to be explicit that Reform are a far-right party and it does really feel sometimes as though there are certain forces within the UK media that have been determined to create a viable far-right party in the UK for years, or for decades.
“I think research that’s been published in the last week or so about the number of not only far right politicians but pretty hard right media pundits who have been platformed by the BBC and by other broadcasters who are supposed to be impartial demonstrates a real dominance of that mindset within the media.
“Even in the election period itself, I think it was in the Panorama interview with Rishi Sunak, the first 10 minutes of that was about Nigel Farage.
“It’s been astonishing the way that some have cultivated and created this threat and now because they’ve turned it into a story, [they think] we have to spend all of our time reporting it.
“I think everybody should be concerned about it [the rise of the far-right]. It’s a profound threat to democracy.”
Research published last week showed the BBC has been disproportionately platforming people from right-wing media outlets on Question Time.
Researchers at Cardiff University analysed every episode of the programme between September 2014 and July 2023 in order to see whether the broadcaster was appropriately balancing political viewpoints.
They analysed a total of 352 programmes with 1734 guest slots, which were filled by 661 different people.
However, while they found that the BBC had “broadly balanced” appearances from representatives of the UK’s main political parties, when it came to members of the media a right-wing bias became evident.
Asked if he was suggesting Reform UK should be banned from media interviews, Harvie stressed he was not calling for that, but suggested broadcasters should “think carefully” about whether they are platforming a party beyond its legitimate track record.
The Green Party are set to be involved in the same Question Time special Farage will be on next week and Harvie insisted this shows a “disparity” in the media, given his party have had more electoral success.
He went on: “Greens have been elected at an Assembly level, in the Scottish Parliament, we’ve had a seat in the House of Commons for many years now, Reform have not got that track record.
“They’re a new outfit, not even a democratic political party but a private company owned by Nigel Farage with no electoral track record to speak of yet as soon as they rock up they get treated as though they are one of the mainstream political parties and that creates this sense of wind under their sails.
“There does seem to be a disparity in parts of the media about the way a party with a significant electoral track record has been treated compared with one that has none.”
Farage is also due to speak to Nick Robinson for a special leader’s Panorama interview on Friday, June 21.
He had been due to be grilled by Robinson last week but pulled out on the day.
The BBC has been approached for comment.
