Exclusive: BBC tells staff not to wear Black Lives Matter badges on air

The BBC has told its presenters and guests not to wear Black Lives Matter badges as the campaign was accused of “hijacking” George Floyd’s death for political reasons.

Bosses at the corporation have decided not to allow “visual symbols of support” for Black Lives Matter to be worn on screen, senior sources told The Telegraph.

It comes as a number of high-profile organisations were forced to backtrack on their support for the Black Lives Matter movement as its UK arm publicly criticised Israel and called on the British government to “defund the police”.

The BBC’s stance is at odds with other broadcasters including Sky who have displayed BLM hashtags between programmes and encouraged presenters to wear badges of support.

The Premier League, meanwhile, has been a prominent supporter with every player wearing the BLM slogan on their sleeve and ‘taking the knee’ before kick off, despite a ban on political messaging during games.

But after the BLM UK campaign issued a barrage of politically-charged tweets earlier this week, Sky Sports presenters including the former England player Matt Le Tissier said they were uneasy about wearing badges after becoming concerned at the campaign’s far-left activism.

A spokesman for the Premier League, meanwhile, distanced themselves from BLM, saying it recognised “the importance of the message that black lives matter” but did not “endorse any political organisation or movement, nor support any group that calls for violence or condones illegal activity”.

Sources at the BBC, however, revealed the corporation had always deemed Black Lives Matter a political campaign, and had therefore deemed that the wearing symbols of support would fall foul of impartiality guidelines.

The source would not confirm whether any on-screen figures had been refused permission to wear a badge during BBC coverage.

“The BBC cannot be seen to support any kind of cause over another, and Black Lives Matter is certainly a campaign,” the BBC source said.

“Therefore we wouldn’t want anyone on-screen to be wearing visual symbols of support.

“Our presenters and guests can discuss Black Lives Matter, and we’ve reported on it in depth. We’re not impartial about racism.

“But wearing badges on screen - just as with any other campaign - would be a step too far.”

On Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur became the first football club to publicly break with the movement after Black Lives Matter UK issued a barrage of tweets suggesting British politics had been “gagged of the right to critique Zionism”.

In a letter to a concerned fan, seen by The Telegraph, executive director Donna-Maria Cullen said the club’s Jewish chairman Daniel Levy had been “equally disappointed” by the tweets.

“It is unacceptable that a value-based action is being hijacked by those with their own political agenda,” Ms Cullen wrote.

Meanwhile, Hertfordshire Police appeared to row back on earlier advice it issued to its officers on whether they should 'take the knee' at Black Lives Matter marches.

In June the force said that while it is a "personal" decision, the symbol of solidarity receives a "positive reaction" from protesters and officers who choose not to do it "may become the focus of the protesters' attention".

Assistant Chief Constable Bill Jephson of Hertfordshire Police conceded today that 'taking the knee' isn't always "appropriate".

"As such the force neither encourages nor discourages officers from taking the knee, but directs that in some operational situations it is not appropriate. As with many aspects of policing we will keep our position under review,” he said.

Meanwhile Northumberland County Council removed a post on its social media pages that had endorsed the Black Lives Matter group.

Conservative councillor Peter Jackson said the BLM organisation had “definitely strayed into the political arena” and it was therefore inappropriate for the council to publicly support it.

“It’s quite clear to me and to possibly the silent majority that there are a number of what you would call political extremists creating what looks more like a political movement than a race equality movement,” he said.

“When we get mindless vandalism, when we get talk of de-funding the police and attacks on the police, and when we get people effectively trying to rewrite history, it looks likes a political movement to me,” he added.

A spokesperson for Sky Sports said: "Sky’s support is for the moral cause and campaign, that black lives matter, rather than for any political organisation.

"Our presenters and analysts on-screen are free to make their own choice as to whether they wear supportive badges or not."

A Black Lives Matter UK spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.