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When will the BBC apologise to Toby Young?

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More bad times at the BBC. The Corporation is in hot water yet again following last week’s episode of Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. During a discussion on whether extreme weather events are caused by carbon emissions, TV eco-warrior Chris Packham launched into one of his patented rants when asked by businessman Luke Johnson to provide some evidence. Packham sneered:

It doesn’t come from Toby Young’s Daily Septic [sic], which is basically put together by a bunch of professionals with close affiliations to the fossil fuel industry. It comes from actually something called science.

But in his haste to put down Johnson, Packham appears to have blundered. For Young, a longtime Spectator contributor, has now submitted a complaint to the Beeb over the ‘false and defamatory’ claim. Writing on Twitter/X, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Sceptic said that:

Neither I nor any of the other people who put it together have any affiliations to the fossil fuel industry, close or otherwise.

Steerpike
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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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