The GB News row rumbles on, with its enemies seeing the perfect chance to call for its closure. A genuinely indefensible blunder from two of the channel’s regulars, Laurence Fox and Dan Wootton, has seen both suspended. But questions are now being asked about the overall culture – and even whether it should be banned entirely. Adam Boulton, former political editor of Sky News, was on Newsnight last night saying that it’s time for GB News be taken off air, even going so far as to compare the station to Russian state media:

I have to say I think the complaints have piled up against GB News. I think there is a delicate and important broadcast ecology in this country. I think GB News is trying to bust that ecology, and frankly what Ofcom should do is shut it down, like it shut down RT [Russia Today]…

When host Victoria Derbyshire accused Boulton of defending the established media, Boulton said that ‘I value the competition that we’ve had within the rules.’ Gordon Brown, a former Prime Minister close to Keir Starmer, said the debacle shows that Ofcom “needs to have more teeth to deal with issues of standards”. But that was mild compared to the verdict of Caroline Nokes who wanted it closed down entirely – despite the fact that four of her Tory colleagues – including Conservative deputy chairman Lee Anderson – are regulars on GB News.

It should be taken off air. It was entirely predictable that Laurence Fox was going to come out with a statement that was that offensive. I think what was less predictable would be Dan Wootton’s smirking reaction. But really I think Ofcom deserves a bit of time and space for it to do its job, and if we as parliament aren’t happy with the regulations that are set, then maybe we should be tightening them up…

I don’t go on any of their shows. Because to be frank, from my perspective, if you’re a Member of Parliament you have a day job to do, getting on with the work you have in the House of Commons and not swanning off in some cases several times a week to present a show on a television channel.

This blow-up stems to decisions taken right at the very start of GB News: whether to shoot for high-quality, against-the-grain analysis or whether to acquire and revel in a “bad boy” image with laddish dialogues such as that between Wootton and Fox. Paul Marshall, the former LibDem donor who has bankrolled the heavily-lossmaking channel, weighed in behind the latter. Trying to do both, though, meant the work of the shock-jocks was always going to steal the limelight – and define the channel Might it be time for Marshall to think again?

“I think it should be taken off air”

Conservative MP Caroline Nokes tells #Newsnight Ofcom needs space to its job and that maybe regulations should be ‘tightened up’https://t.co/P0zxS1DNGF pic.twitter.com/RizHEY89vt

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) September 27, 2023