A call for news anchor Jon Snow to be sacked after apparently chanting “fuck the Tories” at Glastonbury has been dismissed as “silly”.
The Channel 4 host was pictured at the music festival posing for numerous selfies with fans, including Danny Millea, who tweeted: “Boss place that Glasto. Having a dance with Jon Snow and hearing him shout fuck the tories is what dreams are made of.” He added Snow had reminded them that as a broadcast journalist, he was meant to be strictly neutral.
Snow told HuffPost UK on Tuesday he had “no recollection” of the incident, but the story raised the ire of Andrew Bridgen, Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire.
Bridgen said Snow had espoused his views in a “rude and public way”, thus making his position with the broadcaster “untenable.”
He told HuffPost UK: “I’ve been interviewed by Channel 4 several times, not by him, but if I am I will be asking him what he means by that comment and I would urge all Conservatives who are to ask what he meant by ‘fuck the Tories’.”
Bridgen added: “He probably won’t resign or be disciplined and that says a lot about the politics of that particular channel and news platform.”
But Labour MP Ben Bradshaw dismissed Bridgen’s calls and spoke out in support of Snow.
“Jon Snow has won more awards than any other British broadcaster. He interviews politicians without fear or favour. He and Channel Four won’t be worried about this silly call by Mr Bridgen. Mr Bridgen spends most of his time calling for people he doesn’t like to resign, including David Cameron in 2013 and the Commons’ highly popular Speaker, John Bercow, last year,” the former BBC journalist told HuffPost UK.
The Ofcom rules about neutrality only relate to what is broadcast or published and have nothing to do with journalists do on their own time.
Channel 4 declined to comment.