Here is the text of the Muslim Council of Britain’s letter of complaint to Ofcom in response to the Panorama programme “A Question of Leadership”:
Dishonest Omissions
1. The programme portrayed the MCB as being ‘in denial’ about extremism. The MCB makes no claims about perfection and we do have many shortcomings. However, it was deeply unfair of the Panorama team not to make mention of the MCB’s efforts to help promote the common good by sending a written emergency appeal – following the Madrid bombings – to every Islamic organisation and mosque in the country urging vigilance against the terror threat and cooperation with the police. In addition, in September 2004, the MCB printed 500,000 copies of a Pocket Guide on Rights and Responsibilities. This contained a section on ‘Vigilance and the Terror Threat’ in which we prominently printed the Anti-Terror Hotline Number.
The inclusion of the above information would have refuted the “denial” portrayed by John Ware. Accordingly, the omission of such information in our view breaches paragraphs 5.7, 5.11, 7.1 and 7.9 of the Broadcasting Code.
2. Sir Iqbal Sacranie was questioned in the programme in detail about statements attributed to some of our affiliates. By contrast, Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui (of the Muslim Parliament) was approvingly quoted in the programme several times and was not questioned in the programme at all about the far more controversial statement about bombing No 10 Downing Street made by his deputy Dr Yaqub Zaki which appeared in the national newspapers on the very morning of the Panorama programme.
The omission of such information in our view further breaches paragraphs 5.7, 7.1 and 7.9 of the Broadcasting Code.
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