Ofcom dismisses complaints about Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak on Good Morning Britain - Credit: ITV

Ofcom has dismissed complaints made by viewers over an appearance by Rishi Sunak on Good Morning Britain.

Some 1,064 viewers said statements made by the chancellor were inaccurate, with most objecting to his claim that he had engaged with a campaign group representing people who say they have been excluded from access to Covid-related financial support.

The group insisted that no such engagement had taken place.

During his appearance on the show on November 26, Sunak discussed the development of the furlough scheme and said: “All of the bodies that I spoke with at the time supported it.”

When asked by the presenters, including Ben Shephard, whether he would meet with people from the group Excluded UK, he said: “We’ve already spoken a lot to their team and I’ve been back and forth with them…”

Ofcom has assessed the complaints but will not pursue.

A spokeswoman said: “After careful assessment of complaints, we concluded that the chancellor’s brief, generalised statements about the government’s engagement with other bodies when developing the furlough scheme did not raise issues under our due accuracy rules.”