THE BBC has refused to issue an official correction following a claim made about Anas Sarwar’s stance on the two-child cap – despite the broadcaster admitting the story should have been worded differently.
On July 23, Good Morning Scotland host Laura Maxwell claimed that Anas Sarwar wanted to see the two-child cap scrapped “immediately”.
Speaking on the programme, she said: “We also know though in terms of internal Labour Party management, the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said he would like to see the two-child cap scrapped immediately as well.”
Laura Maxwell 'Anas Sarwar wants to scrap the two child cap immediately.' Anas Sarwar 'Voting not to scrap it was the right thing to do.' Where does this leave Maxwell and BBC Scotland? Sarwar himself has exposed their 'two child cap' narrative as fictitious. Fake news. pic.twitter.com/UDwczp5mrW
— MSM Monitor (@msm_monitor) August 2, 2024
Scottish Labour MPs voted against an SNP amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the policy to be axed.
Just seven Labour MPs backed the amendment – none of them from Scotland.
In an email seen by The National, the BBC received a complaint that claiming Sarwar wanted the cap scrapped "immediately" was inaccurate.
Speaking during the General Election campaign to the Daily Record, the Scottish Labour leader said: “We want to have the review of Universal Credit. We want to create the financial conditions where we can move on the two-child limit.”
He added: “We will continue to push for it to happen and we want to make sure we’re part of helping create the economic conditions to make that happen.”
Sarwar also said that the two-child cap was “not right” and that it “needs to be reversed”.
In the email sent to the BBC, the complainant said: “Anas Sarwar does not want to see the two-child cap scrapped immediately.
“He wants the two-child cap to be scrapped only when the financial situation allows it to be scrapped.
“Laura Maxwell’s claim that Anas Sarwar (above) has said he would like to scrap the two-child cap immediately is not true.
“Given the significance of this issue a broadcast correction would be in order.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer suspended seven MPs for backing the calls to scrap the two-child cap limit.
The policy was first brought in by the Tory-run government in 2015 which limits the benefits a person can claim for their third or subsequent children.
BBC response
The complainant has since passed on the BBC’s full response to their concerns about Maxwell’s statement.
The BBC said it accepted it should have used different language when describing the Scottish Labour leader’s position.
The response said: “We note your comments about Laura Maxwell’s interview, about the two-child benefit cap, with the chief political commentator at the i newspaper Kitty Donaldson.
“Whilst we don’t feel a broadcast correction is required, we do accept that our reference should have been to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar wanting to see the two-child benefit cap scrapped ‘as soon as possible,’ rather than ‘immediately’.
“Please be assured that we have and continue to follow the nuances of the story and will report them in an accurate way for our audience.
“Thank you again for your feedback. We’ve included your comments in our overnight reports and shared them with news teams and senior management.”
It’s not the first time the BBC has been criticised for its reporting of the two-child cap, with SNP MSP Kevin Stewart previously accusing the broadcaster of letting “truth take a back seat to convenience” after a news editor dismissed Stewart’s claims about a misleading headline.
The National has approached the BBC for further comment.
