Green Party responds to Reform UK’s ‘ill-thought-out and cruel’ plan to deport hundreds of thousands granted asylum
Responding to Reform UK’s latest attacks on asylum seekers, deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Rachel MiIlward said:
“Another superficial, ill-thought-out and cruel announcement by Reform UK, which will fail to tackle the roots of the asylum crisis whilst making sure more suffering is heaped on the most vulnerable.
“We do not want to see people risking their lives crossing the channel in small boats. What we need is strong international cooperation to address the reasons that people are having to seek asylum in the first place: war, poverty and the climate crisis, and to provide safe & managed routes that would offer a real alternative to people smugglers.”
“We must remember our basic humanity. Many of those seeking asylum have endured horrendous trauma. They include mothers and children. We have a duty to offer compassion and sanctuary, not insecurity, fear and intimidation.
Millward also criticised the BBC for its recent reporting on asylum issues:
“We are disappointed that in recent days the BBC, with its own reports stretching over multiple days, failed to show the challenges those genuinely claiming asylum face. Of course applications for asylum must operate under a proper legal framework, but introducing ever more restrictive rules won’t make the system more efficient. What it would do is make life even harder for the most vulnerable.”
The Israeli professor that the BBC won’t interview
Leftist Journalist Owen Jones Vindicated in Libel Case Over BBC’s Biased Coverage of Gaza Genocide
Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
The BBC has long been accused of centering Israel and dismissing the humanity of Palestinians in its coverage of Gaza.
British journalist Owen Jones on Thursday celebrated a UK High Court judge’s ruling in his favor in a libel lawsuit that a BBC editor brought against him—and said that should the editor choose to move forward with his case despite the decision, he was looking forward “to defending my article in court.”
The High Court ruled that Jones was expressing an opinion when he wrote an article for Drop Site News in December 2024 titled “The BBC’s Civil War Over Gaza,” in which he spoke to BBC staffers about Middle East online editor Raffi Berg’s influence over the news outlet’s coverage of Israel and Palestine.
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The court also said Jones had expressed his opinion and that of his sources based on concrete examples of Berg’s editorial role and journalism.
Jones’ article described staffers’ allegations that “internal complaints about how the BBC covers Gaza have been repeatedly brushed aside” as Berg “sets the tone” for the outlet’s online coverage of Israel’s onslaught in the exclave, where more than 75,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023 in what’s been called a genocide by top Holocaust scholars and human rights groups.
It noted that the BBC failed to report on Amnesty International’s finding that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and displayed an on-screen chyron reading, “Israel rejects ‘fabricated’ claims of genocide.’”
“Journalists expressed concerns over bias in the shaping of the Middle East index of the BBC news website,” wrote Jones. “Several allege that Berg ‘micromanages’ this section, ensuring that it fails to uphold impartiality.”
The BBC has long been criticized for centering Israel and “dehumanizing” Palestinians, as more than 1,000 artists said in a letter last year when they condemned the network for refusing to air a documentary about the impact of Israel’s attacks on children in Gaza, on the grounds that it featured the child of the exclave’s deputy minister of agriculture—suggesting “that Palestinians holding administrative roles are inherently complicit in violence.”
The article also pointed to Berg’s own history of pro-Israel coverage, including a 2002 story “that presented young [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers as courageous defenders of their country while failing to mention the occupation and settlement of Palestinian land or the widespread allegations of crimes” documented by human rights groups and the US government.
Berg also presented Israeli settlers in the West Bank as “victims seeking ‘a better quality of life’ and did not mention the fact that the settlements have been repeatedly deemed illegal,” and wrote about the Mossad “in glowing terms” in a book he wrote with extensive cooperation from the Israeli intelligence agency.
He also posted a photo on social media showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a copy of Berg’s book on his bookshelf, Jones reported.
Berg’s lawyer said last year that Jones’ reporting attacked Berg’s “professional reputation as a journalist and editor,” and led to death threats.
In order for his case against Jones to proceed, Berg would now need to prove in court that “Jones did not genuinely hold the opinion he expressed in his reporting, or demonstrate that the opinion is not one an honest person could hold on the basis of any fact that existed at the time of its publication,” Middle East Eye reported.
“I am proud to stand by my journalism,” said Jones Thursday.
Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Why isn’t the Greens’ growing success reflected in media coverage?
Maxwell Modell, Cardiff University; Matt Walsh, Cardiff University, and Stephen Cushion, Cardiff University
The victory of the Greens in the Gorton and Denton parliamentary byelection is a landmark for the party. But our new research reveals the Greens have received limited airtime over the last year despite almost doubling their support in the polls and in party membership.
While Reform UK has seen a spike in media coverage since it took a commanding lead in the polls, our research shows the Greens have not received more airtime in recognition of their growing popularity.
Broadcasters have to abide by due impartiality rules, but they have the editorial freedom to balance the airtime of political parties. They consider factors such as a party’s vote share at the last UK general election or a party’s electoral performance at the most recent devolved, regional and local election. Other factors to consider include the latest trends in opinion polls tracking voting intention, and whether what a party is saying the news organisation considers significant or, as the BBC says, whether they are “making the political weather” by setting the agenda.
After winning the byelection, this raises the question: should the Greens now be given more airtime?
Limited coverage of Greens
Our Impartiality project team has been tracking coverage of UK opposition parties on BBC News at Ten and ITV News at Ten, the UK’s most-watched nightly TV news bulletins.
In 2025, we found the Greens were the sixth most covered opposition party, being referenced in just 32 items, behind the Conservatives (375), Reform UK (213), the Liberal Democrats (116), the Scottish National Party or SNP (46) and ahead of Plaid Cymru (10).
We also tracked how often a party was the leading focus of a broadcaster’s report. The Greens led four items – three on BBC and one on ITV. These stories related to the Greens’ May local election campaign, Zack Polanski winning the party leadership in September and the party conference in October. But neither BBC News at Ten and ITV News at Ten covered the announcement or build-up to the leadership contest.
In contrast, Reform UK led 69 items, Conservatives led 45 items, the Liberal Democrats led 14 items and the SNP led 13 items.
The Greens also appeared on only four episodes of BBC Question Time during 2025. That was about a third as often as the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK. Despite the leadership change, the subsequent surge in membership and the sustained rise in poll ratings (from 11% in August 2025 to 17% in December 2025), broadcast coverage of Greens did not increase at the end of 2025.
This shows a potential inequality in the treatment of the rising left and right parties. The BBC cited improvements in opinion polling as one of the factors behind the increased coverage of Reform UK, but the Green party’s popularity has not received anywhere near the same recognition.
In May 2025, news coverage of Reform UK increased substantially following its victories in local and mayoral elections, which broadcasters considered a sign that the party was now a major player in UK electoral politics. Our research even showed in September 2025 Reform UK was referenced on TV news more than the Conservatives, the party that is supposed to be the UK’s parliamentary official opposition.
The question now is whether broadcasters will take the Green party’s victory in Gorton and Denton as a similar sign of its electoral significance and increase media coverage of the party.
While broadcasters have not broken any of the UK’s rules on due impartiality, our new research raises questions about how they have been interpreting impartiality in a new multi-party system.
Traditionally they have relied on allocating airtime according to parties with the largest number of MPs and total vote at the last general election. They have also factored in performances at the latest local, regional or devolved elections. But they now appear to making more subjective judgements about allocating airtime according to the opinion polls or the newsworthiness of parties.
Given the Greens’ growing popularity, their distinctive set of policies, charismatic leader and byelection victory, they might now look set to receive more media attention and scrutiny over the coming months.
Maxwell Modell, Research associate, Cardiff University; Matt Walsh, Head of the School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff University, and Stephen Cushion, Professor, Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
