CFI Parliamentary Chairmen, Rt. Hon. Stephen Crabb MP and Rt. Hon. The Lord Pickles, and CFI Honorary President Lord Polak CBE, have written to BBC Director General Lord Hall of Birkenhead to express their “grave concerns” over the continued inclusion of public health expert Professor John Ashton in BBC programming despite his “long history” of inflammatory statements.
The parliamentarians write that Professor Ashton has “repeatedly compared Zionists to Nazis, and attacked former Jewish Labour MPs online for their views on Israel”. They highlight: “One of his most troubling comments exposed by the Jewish Chronicle this week stated that it is ‘surely time for Jews to reflect’ on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.
“This falls foul of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism as it conflates people of Jewish heritage with Israelis thereby suggesting that all Jews have influence and responsibility for the actions of the Israeli government in its relationship with Gaza”, CFI’s Parliamentary Chairmen and Honorary President contend.
They add that “poisonous rhetoric on Israel, including views espoused by Professor Ashton, has given rise to a new form of antisemitism”, with a “record” number of antisemitic incidents in the UK last year reported by the Community Security Trust (CST).
Mr Crabb, Lord Pickles and Lord Polak write that “Professor Ashton’s past comments should not be excused by any expertise he may possess on public health issues” and that the “BBC has a responsibility to thoroughly vet all contributors and take a zero-tolerance approach to racism of any kind”.
The parliamentarians urge the BBC Director General to “remove Professor Ashton from your list of contributors, and publicly acknowledge that he should not have featured in recent broadcasts”.
