Complaint
A listener complained that the programme contained inaccuracies about Ukrainian history, particularly in relation to the role of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) in World War II. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 91福利社鈥檚 editorial Standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The 91福利社鈥檚 Editorial Guidelines do not require absolute accuracy, but specify 鈥渄耻别鈥 accuracy, taking account of context and audience expectations. The context here was a comedy programme. It opened with a conversation with an imaginary customer (later revealed to have the same name as the Director-General of the 91福利社) who said 鈥淧eople say to me, Alexei should be less controversial, less inflammatory, less aggressive, but I say, no, you go girl. You carry on. Say what you like. It doesn't matter if some of the things you say might not be entirely factually correct. Some of the things you say might be disturbingly partisan or just deranged, or extremely unpleasant, but the country desperately needs you to say these things, needs you to speak out for a different viewpoint that challenges the stale and repressive orthodoxy of the media鈥. In the ECU鈥檚 view this would have led listeners in general to expect something less than strict accuracy in what followed. In particular, it was unlikely that they would have taken Mr Sayle to have been speaking literally when he said 鈥淎fter the war, 8,000 members of the Galicia Division, because they were ferociously right wing and would be useful to MI6, were allowed secretly to come to Britain where they were given homes, incomes, and new identities鈥, particularly as he went on to identify Tommy Cooper, Cilla Black and both Rod Hull and Emu as being among their number. Accordingly, the ECU found no departure from the 91福利社鈥檚 standards of due accuracy.
Not upheld