Petition calls for Alastair Stewart to be reinstated

Last night, the veteran ITN news presenter Alastair Stewart announced that he was stepping down, after he was accused of racism when he quoted a Shakespeare passage to a member of the public online. In a statement following his departure, ITN said Stewart had made ‘errors of judgment in his use of social media’.

The Shakespeare passage, from Measure for Measure, included the phrase ‘angry ape’, and was directed at a black man. But, soon after his departure it was discovered that Stewart had quoted the passage before, and in a statement this afternoon, the man who had complained about the newscaster’s behaviour, said that ‘a private apology would have been more than sufficient to draw a line under’ the incident

Already a backlash seems to be mounting at ITN bosses, who unceremoniously dumped Stewart, despite him working at the organisation for decades. In response, a petition has been launched online, calling for Stewart to be given his job back.