Summary of complaint
We received complaints about a message being read out from an unnamed Reform UK source, following an interview with Green Party leader Zack Polanski.
Our response
Reform UK having reported the Green Party leader Zack Polanksi to the police over a post he had shared on social media, and accusing him of an 鈥渋ncitement to murder鈥, was an issue of significance. Victoria Derbyshire conducted an in-depth interview with Mr Polanski, during which he was given the time to explain his position in detail.
When Newsnight鈥檚 Political Editor Nick Watt was then contacted by a senior Reform source with their response to Mr Polanski鈥檚 interview, it was clearly relevant, legitimate and of interest to our viewers for Nick to read out this message. Victoria gave Mr Polanski a right of reply to the points made by the Reform source.
It is common journalistic practice for our political correspondents and editors to speak to sources off the record to inform their reporting and analysis. If sources wish to remain anonymous, we would comply with this, as was the case in this instance. While Mr Polanski suggested who he thought the source might be, Nick didn鈥檛 comment on this.
We believe our approach to both the interview with Mr Polanski and the inclusion of the views of the Reform source were fair and duly impartial.