Complaint
This series, hosted by Armando Iannucci and Stewart Lee, offers “a cast-iron guarantee to be laser-focused on decoding the baffling world of political language”. The edition in question cited comments by James Price of the Centre for Policy Studies and a former President of the Oxford Union, in the aftermath of a social media post by the Union’s President-elect which appeared to welcome the killing of Charlie Kirk, as an instance of what it termed “fabulo-speculation”. Mr Price complained that the programme had insulted him and effectively called him a liar without offering him any right of reply. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of fairness.
Outcome
The relevant section of the programme was as follows:
Stewart Lee: The speculation is now a technique. You speculate, and then you get from the speculation into the fact. The guy from a new made-up thing, Concerned Alumni of the Oxford Union, James Price, he’s from the Tufton Street think tank Centre for Policy Studies. He was saying, ‘there may have been donations withdrawn from the Oxford Union, because the bloke criticised Charlie Kirk. There may not be. But, if there have been, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah’.
Armando Iannucci: And then that’s what sticks.
Stewart Lee: And then you’re into that. And we need a new name for this, and I would like to call it “fabulo-speculation”.
Armando Iannucci: Fabulo-Speculation.
Stewart Lee: Fabulo-speculation yeah, where you can speculate about something that you have no evidence for because the fabulo-speculation gets you to the insubstantiated point that you want to make.
Armando Iannucci: Yes, and if that insubstantiated point becomes then real for a lot of people because it sounds real so I would suggest facto-speculation.
Stewart Lee: Facto-speculation
Armando Iannucci: Or facto-fabulo-speculation
Stewart Lee: Facto-speculation is the second, is the result of fabulo-speculation
These comments arose from a radio interview in which Mr Price had said of the Oxford Union:
I think the long-term viability of the place may struggle. I think certain speakers have come out and maybe some of these stories about funding are true, about it being paused.
In the ECU’s view, although the programme did not directly assert that Mr Price had been lying, the clear implication of its comments was that he had floated the possibility of funding for the Union being withheld on no evidential basis, and with the intention of establishing a particular narrative in the public mind. At the time of Mr Price’s interview, however, a report of funding being withheld from the Union by prospective donors had appeared in the national press. The implication that Mr Price had originated the story without evidence was therefore unfair to him, and the more so because he had been offered no opportunity of rebuttal.
Upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to the management of BBC Studios and discussed with the editorial team responsible. The programme has been edited in the light of the finding.
