Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of recent reports of bias by the BBC Arabic service in its reporting on Israel.

We have made no such assessment. It is not for the government to make judgements about perceived impartiality or bias at the BBC, as the BBC is operationally and editorially independent of government. This is a matter for the BBC Board and Ofcom, as the BBC's regulator. Ofcom is responsible for setting rules to ensure BBC coverage is impartial and accurate under the Broadcasting Code and for holding the BBC to account against its public purposes as the BBC regulator.