Reform UK has stated it will no longer be cooperating with a BBC programme about the Nigel Farage-led party in the wake of a row over Donald Trump‘s speech being edited on Panorama. The BBC documentary, which was due to air in January, had been commissioned by October Films and was set to be called The Rise of Reform, presented by Laura Kuenssberg.
An internal Reform email obtained by the BBC advised members to decline to take part in the filming, while also stating the production company had “conducted themselves professionally”. According to BBC News, the documentary’s makers were given “unprecedented access” to key players in Reform UK. The internal email said a decision has been made to “cease engagement” in the documentary.
The BBC has shared some of the email, which read: “We want to be clear that October Films have always conducted themselves professionally, and there is no suggestion from our side that they would maliciously misrepresent Reform UK.
“However, following the Panorama documentary, the trust has been lost, and both the BBC and the production company will have to do a lot of hard work to regain that trust.”
It is unclear whether the documentary will run without the cooperation of Reform UK.
Express.co.uk has contacted the BBC and Reform UK for further comment.
Following the update, Reform UK Chief Whip Lee Anderson told GB News the decision was a “trust issue”.
He said: “We’ve seen what they’ve done to Donald Trump in the speech. I keep watching it, and I watch it over and over again.
“I cannot actually believe what I’m seeing and what I’m hearing – how the BBC, the voice of our great nation across the world, could do such a sneaky, underhanded thing like that to our best friend in the world.”
The Panorama episode in question appeared to be edited to show Trump encouraging supporters to riot at the Capitol. Earlier this week, Trump said he wanted to sue the BBC for $1billion.
A BBC spokesperson told The Telegraph: “We shouldn’t forget Panorama delivers quality prime time investigative journalism week after week – last month’s Undercover in the Police being the most recent example.”