BBC 10-part series on Brexit featured 19 anti-Brexiteers and only one in favour of leaving the EU

By ELIZABETH HAIGH, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:49, 18 July 2026 | Updated: 15:50, 18 July 2026 A BBC series on Brexit featured only one guest who argued for the benefits of leaving the EU, it was revealed today. Out of 20 guest appearances on Radio 4's Politically: Ten Years After Brexit, just one spoke of positive outcomes from the 2016 referendum. It's prompted accusations of bias from the corporation after many of the guests were happy to list the negative impacts of the UK's departure from the EU.  Campaign group News-Watch analysed the series, which came out last month to mark the tenth anniversary of the referendum and claimed the BBC had deliberately ignored the benefits. The series, hosted by Alex Forsyth, heard from just one pro-Brexit voice, economist Julian Jessop, of the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA). The rest of the guests were reported to have talked about its costs and consequences without referencing any benefits.  News-Watch produced a 97-page report in which the group also said listeners were not told about pro-EU links some of the guests had, and complained that three were linked to anti-Brexit organisations. This included Sam Lowe, introduced as a consultant at Flint Global - he previously held a role at anti-Brexit think-tank the Centre for European Reform. Sam Lowe was introduced as a consultant at Flint Global - listeners weren't told he previously held a role at anti-Brexit think-tank the Centre for European Reform Listeners were also not told that the group formerly headed by Sarah Main (pictured), Campaign for Science and Engineering, had formally opposed leaving the EU Mujtaba Rahman, of consulting firm Eurasia Group, was also invited on as a guest - he was formerly an economist at the European Commission Listeners were also not told that the group formerly headed by Sarah Main, Campaign for Science and Engineering, had formally opposed leaving the EU. Mujtaba Rahman, of consulting firm Eurasia Group, was also invited on as a guest - he was formerly an economist at the European Commission. News-Watch said there were nine instances in the series in which a benefit of Brexit was mentioned, but each time this was rebutted or not properly explored. Areas of positive change include vaccine development, gene-editing divergence, lower US tariffs and the Turing Scheme, the organisation said. Former BBC journalist David Keighley, the managing director of News-Watch, told The Telegraph: 'Ten years after the Brexit vote, the BBC has once again shown that it remains pro-EU to the core. 'This Radio 4 series did not examine the evidence impartially. It buried the benefits of Brexit beneath a deluge of claims about the benefits of EU membership, EU alignment and EU regulation. 'The bias was not only in the choice of contributors. It was in the presentation itself. Alex Forsyth's summaries repeatedly turned contested anti-Brexit judgements into BBC conclusions. That breaks the basic rule of impartial broadcasting. 'The BBC is still pro-EU, still anti-Brexit, and still unwilling to admit it.' A BBC spokesperson said: 'This series was made in line with the BBC's editorial guidelines which require the highest standards of impartiality. 'It explores how various policy areas and aspects of public and political life have changed since Brexit, with expert contributors putting facts and figures into context and highlighting the positive and negative impacts of Brexit.'