Veteran BBC News reporter suspended over Facebook rant calling Tory government the ‘new Nazis’
Social media meltdown sees Look North's Danny Carpenter brand Tories as 'racist and xenophobic'
A BBC news presenter has been suspended after branding the government the “new Nazis” in a Facebook meltdown about Brexit.
The Sun can reveal BBC Look North’s Danny Carpenter has been taken off air and placed under investigation after accusing the Tories of being “cynical, vicious, racist and xenophobic”.
He also called for the referendum result to be “voted out” by Parliament because of a “combination of dishonest fearmongering and lies about the economy”.
Writing on Facebook earlier this month, Mr Carpenter raged: “Now let’s see the Labour Party grow some proper balls and unite in the lobbies to vote out every cynical, vicious, racist and xenophobic piece of legislation these new Nazis propose.”
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Last night Tory MP Nigel Adams hit out: “I was gobsmacked to read the BBC journalist comments.
“Neutrality is so important but when you read such anti-Tory rhetoric from a well known local reporter, it does nothing to heal the preconceptions about BBC bias that many in politics have.”
After a complaint from the Selby and Ainsty MP, Helen Thomas, the Head of BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, said: “Be assured we’re taking these allegations very seriously and the journalists concerned will not be reporting for the BBC pending the outcome of our investigation.”
She added that “impartiality is of the utmost importance to the BBC” and “there are strict editorial guidelines in place for our staff, including the use of social media.”
Mr Adams, who sits of the Common’s powerful Media Select Committee, told The Sun: “I welcome Mr Carpenter’s suspension and it is only right that he be taken off the air ahead of what I hope will be a thorougher investigation into his disgusting comments.”
Mr Carpenter has been a local TV face in Yorkshire for more than 20 years.
He has recently deleted his Twitter account on which he claimed “all views expressed” were “purely my quirky own.”