GB News platforms the far right, conspiracy theorists and racists

GB News have serious questions to answer following their coverage of anti-migrant protests in Llanelli and Surbiton. They have platformed a far right group and individuals with histories of conspiracy theories and racist comments. 

In Llanelli, GB News interviewed Dan Morgan, co-leader of Voice of Wales. Voice of Wales is a far-right media outlet run by Morgan and Stan Robinson. They were permanently banned from YouTube in 2021 and now release content via their own website and fringe platforms like Gettr and Telegram. Voice of Wales made 15 visits to hotels housing asylum seekers and migrants in 2022 as part of the wave of ‘migrant-hunter’ activity. 

Alongside their extreme ant-migrant views, they promote climate change denial and published a series of videos with Paul Burgess who was part of the now defunct far-right party For Britain. They have also been long-time allies and vocal supporters of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, regularly attending his demonstrations over many years.

They also focus on anti-LGBT+ content and has been part of the wider far-right opposition to Drag Queen Story Hour events. The group also covered and supported the Public Child Protection Wales campaign against the Welsh Government’s relationship and sexuality education (RSE) curriculum, which they claimed is designed to sexualise children and promote homosexuality.

Over in Surbiton, GB News interviewed Janie Still as a ‘local resident’ who is in fact an avid conspiracy theorist who appears to be a Hampshire resident. In the interview she says Rishi Sunak should “take a leaf out of the Hungarian President’s book, Viktor Orban” and calls for him to criminalise immigration lawyers.

Still is also a supporter of Britain First and has previously attended a conspiracy theory-driven anti-lockdown demonstration in Trafalgar Square in September 2020, at which David Icke spoke. She has also tweeted content from antisemite and conspiracy theorist David Icke.

Lastly, in Surbiton GB News interviewed Richard Hunt who claims to be one of the organisers of the protest. On his Twitter account says he’s contacted Britain First as he could be a “huge help”. He also tweeted in 2022 to Dr Shola Moss-Shogbamimu: “piss off to originally where you family come from and why did you lot all come here in the first place”. Hunt has also been involved in UKIP.

We know that the far right often claim to be ‘local champions’ and ‘standing up for residents’, when in reality we know that they’re interlopers who are there to take advantage of community tensions to whip up hate and recruit new members.

Allowing the far right to go unchecked and uncritically platformed is irresponsible from GB News and raises serious questions about their ability to vet and research interviewees.