Panellists joked about conspiracy theories

The News Quiz has been cleared of bias after a listener complained that panelists ‘scoffed’ at the idea Israel allowed the October 7 attacks to take place as a pretext for invading Gaza.

Comedians and journalists on the Radio 4 show discussed the terrorist attacks and antisemitism in the episode which aired on February 16.

The first question was about Labour withdrawing support for Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali over comments he made claiming Israel had allowed attacks by Hamas to give it justification to invade Gaza. The party had originally defended him, but dropped their support when he turned his fire on ‘people in the media from certain Jewish quarters’.

On the show, host Andy Zaltzman said: 'There's not much to ask for potential MPs not to fall for conspiracy theories.’

To which Zoe Lyons joked: ‘You know, you wouldn't want your Foreign Minister saying, Well, my job is now an awful lot easier, of course, because the world is flat.’

And Andrew Maxwell explained: ‘It's the Rochdale [candidate] who claimed that Israel let it happen, because that's a big schism in conspiracy theorists. There's "make it happen" conspiracy theorists and "let it happen".’

The panel also spoke about the rise in antisemitic abuse in the UK.

Daniel Finkelstein, the Conservative peer, journalist  and vaice-president of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: 'I have received quite a lot of antisemitic correspondence over time, but this week, more than you would expect’ – adding that he no longer got annoyed by it bur would just answer: 'Thank you for being in touch to warmly about the Jews. I'll certainly keep an eye out for them. They sound terrible.’

He added that he was sent details of ‘a web of Jewish influence in Britain,’ adding: 'I noticed that at the centre of it was my dentist's wife. Some of those conspiracy theories are pretty eccentric.’

The listener complained that the discussion of the two topics ‘contributed to a pattern of pro-Israel bias by the BBC’. 

The complaint was raised up to the broadcaster’s Executive Complaints Unit, who yesterday ruled that detailed discussion of the issue was beyond the scope of a comedy programme.

Its ruling read: ‘The requirements for impartiality differ significantly between news and comedy.   By definition, The News Quiz deals with topical issues, but there is a marked distinction between satire, which derives humour from current events, and factual news output.  

‘The ECU noted the complainant considered the programme "scoffed" at the idea Israel had allowed the October 7 attacks to take place, but considered the extent to which a comedy programme would be required to examine the evidence behind a highly controversial statement of this kind was very limited.  

‘In any event, the comment had been widely condemned, and disowned by the person who made it.’

The News Quiz returns to Radio 4 next Friday at 6.30pm.

Published: 30 Aug 2024