Andrew Marr has defended the decision to broadcast an interview with French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, saying that failing to report on the challenge she and Donald Trump pose to western security would not honour those killed in the historic fight against fascism.
Introducing the interview for BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show, which was recorded on Thursday, the broadcaster said: “I know this morning some people are offended and upset that I have been to interview Marine Le Pen and that we are showing this interview on Remembrance Sunday.
“I understand that, but I would say this. Le Pen could under some circumstances become the next French president in the spring. This week in the immediate aftermath of the Trump victory, she has declared that the whole world has changed and that her brand of politics is on the march.
“What does that mean? In the end we are a news programme and I don’t think that the best way to honour the fallen is to fail to report on the next big challenge to western security.”
In the interview, Le Pen said Trump’s victory had boosted her own chances in the French election, and “made possible what had previously been presented as impossible”. She is expected to reach the second round of the election. The first round is due to be held in April.
.@AndrewMarr9: Why I interviewed Marine Le Pen #marr https://t.co/cplBTZCHa8
— The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) November 13, 2016
A small protest outside BBC Broadcasting House during the programme by anti-racism group Unite Against Fascism was briefly addressed by Jeremy Corbyn, who was appearing on the show.
The Labour leader told Marr the protesters were angry about the language the Front National leader uses against minorities in France.
“She uses this populism against minorities in order to get herself elected,” he said. “The reality is she does not have an economic answer to the problems faced by the left [behind] communities in France any more than Ukip has an economic answer to the left behind communities in Britain.
“It’s only communities coming together with public investment that can deal with the fundamental economic injustices that are getting worse not better in Europe.”
Asked whether Le Pen and Trump were similar, Corbyn said: “I think they probably are because they both attempt the same shallow populist appeal because once you let this nasty thing out of the box called xenophobia and intolerance it’s very hard to put it back.”
The shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, had on Saturday criticised the decision to show the interview on Remembrance Sunday, tweeting:
Marine Le Pen speaking on #Marr Remembrance Sunday? Why not interview our veterans who fought fascists&lost so many comrades?So wrong BBC!
— Angela Rayner MP (@AngelaRayner) November 12, 2016
The programme’s editor, Rob Burley, has also defended the decision to show the interview after complaints on Twitter. On Thursday, he said Le Pen was interviewed because of the size of her support in France, her prospects in the presidential election and the context of Trump’s victory in the US.
He added that unless a candidate was irrelevant, “it is our job to hold them to account and allow viewers to understand what they think. Our views about them are irrelevant.”
@RobBurl 1)Marine Le Pen is a controversial booking.But she is a serious contender for the French Presidency whatever you think of her views
— Rob Burley (@RobBurl) November 10, 2016
Before the broadcast, two former BBC executives also defended the interview. Richard Sambrook, a former director of BBC News, said interviewing Le Pen was “absolutely the right thing to do”.
He added: “In the context of very surprising populist electoral successes in the US it would be astonishing if the BBC didn’t interview her. I understand why people would be sensitive [but] it’s the BBC’s job is to reflect or report the world as it is, not report it in a way people would like it to be.”
His comments were echoed by Roger Mosey, a former head of BBC TV News, who said it was vital to scrutinise and challenge the views of politicians like the Front National leader.
“If you don’t interview Marine Le Pen, you get very close to saying don’t interview Nigel Farage The key thing is to put these people on the airwaves and challenge then vigorously.”
In the interview, Le Pen described Trump’s election as “an additional stone in the building of a new world, destined to replace the old one” and praised Vladamir Putin’s “reasoned protectionism”.
She also dismissed allegations of racism made against the Front National and criticised Nato as a “tool for ensuring that countries that are part of it comply with the will of the United States”.
