THE BBC has received almost 200 complaints about a Newsnight episode in which a reporter read out anonymous messages from an unnamed Reform source criticising Green Party leader Zack Polanski.
Polanski was grilled on the evening programme by Victoria Derbyshire on July 28 after he inadvertently shared, and then removed, a post which featured a man wearing a black T-shirt with the message “We’re only making plans for Nigel” and an image of a guillotine.
During a live panel discussion that followed the interview – which Polanski remained on set for – reporter Nicholas Watt interrupted the broadcast to read out live reactions from Reform UK to the interview.
Reading from his phone as the camera panned to Polanski, Watt told Derbyshire a senior Reform UK source had said to him: "It's truly astonishing and quite frankly sickening that Zack Polanski won't apologise for inciting murder.
"He admits it was wrong, he admits it was dangerous, but he still refuses to apologise.
The source was then quoted as saying Polanski was "not fit to lead a national political party".
The BBC has now confirmed in its latest fortnightly complaints report that it has received 189 complaints about the segment.
Surreal, Newsnight interrupts live TV to report a Reform UK source commenting on the Zack Polanski interview Zack Polanski responds Newsnight then read out a comment from another Reform UK source Newsnight then read out a message from Nigel Farage on social care Then a few… pic.twitter.com/hBzYD4V0Oy
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) July 28, 2026
The interruption was described as "surreal" at the time, with the BBC being described as a "Reform Party mouthpiece".
Newsnight was also slammed in the same week for "biased" coverage of Diane Abbott's reinstatement to the Labour Party.
Investigative journalist Paul Holden tore into the programme’s reporting on Abbott’s readmission to the party following a year-long suspension, highlighting that the BBC had refused to cover sexual remarks made about the veteran MP by one of Keir Starmer’s top aides.
Starmer's director of strategy Paul Ovenden quit Downing Street last year over an “inappropriate” conversation he had with colleagues while working as a Labour press officer in 2017. This involved him discussing sex acts involving Abbott with two female staff members.
During the show, journalist Watt spent three minutes reading out comments from Labour figures who were unhappy about her readmittance to the party, while Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy tore into presenter Adam Fleming for misrepresenting her comments during a heated interview.
