Trouble at Sea,

Trouble with

the BBC

Scott Hunter

22 October 2022

The BBC chose not to broadcast "This is England. Trouble at Sea" in the North East and Cumbria.  A questionable decision given that Teesside is at the centre of the issue of crustacean die-off.  As this appears tantamount to censorship, Tees Valley Monitor has written to the Radio 4 Feedback programme to ask for an explanation.  The tedxt of that letter follows:

Good morning

I have just watched "This is England, Trouble at Sea" on BBC iPlayer. The reason I was watching on iPlayer is that the programme was not broadcast in the North East. Teesside is very much at the centre of this ecological catastrophe and it therefore surprising that this was not originally shown here.

The suspicion lingers that the decision not to broadcast in the North East and Cumbria was the result of political intervention. And I would like to put the following questions directly to the person who took this decision: Were you 'advised' not to broadcast this programme in the North East and Cumbria? If so, by whom? If so, why did you, as a public service broadcaster, acquiesce in the face of political manipulation?

As for the documentary itself, while it gave an accurate portrayal of the actions and motivations of those who are trying to persuade Defra to reopen its investigation, it ultimately pulled it punches. It did not portray how the defenders of Defra and their algal bloom theory for the die-off have politicised this issue.

The programme therefore includes a statement from Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, for example, on how much he sympathises with the fishers affected by this catastrophe, but omits to mention that he has put comments into the public domain where he vilifies both the people who took part in the documentary and others involved.