John Humphrys slams BBC remain propaganda as worse than the Kremlin

Veteran broadcaster John Humphrys has called out BBC bias as he retires from his role as at BBC Radio 4.

In his new tell-all book serialised in the Daily Mail Mr Humphrys said he was glad to finally be free of the “BBC Thought Police” and said the Beeb lives in “fear of the politically correct brigade”.

Remembering the morning after the Brexit vote, he said: “Leave had won – and that was not what the BBC had expected. Nor what it wanted.

“No nods and smiles when the big bosses appeared.

“No attempt to pretend that this was anything other than a disaster.”

He writes that BBC bosses were absolutely distraught by the victory of the Leave campaign, and likened their expressions following the referendum to a football fan whose team has just missed a penalty. He said: “I’m not sure the BBC as a whole ever quite had a real grasp of what was going on in Europe, or of what people in this country thought about it.”

He also writes about being forced to present alongside Carrie Gracie, who quit as the BBC’s China editor in a row over unequal pay. He writes: “Today had to report it, just as it would any other big story. I said as much to my boss. There was the sound of some throat-clearing, and then: ‘Umm – no – It’s been decided that she’ll still be presenting.’ I said, ‘Well, at least I’ll be able to grill her about her claims – should make a bloody good interview.’”

But Humphrys added that he was told that option had been ruled out. He said: “I despaired. This wasn’t just poor news management. It made the Kremlin circa 1950 look sophisticated.”