Monty Don shared an unusually politically charged post on his Instagram Story on Wednesday, June 11, that could raise questions about the BBC’s political bias. The Gardeners’ World host posted a video from Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom as he declared, “democracy is under assault” by President Trump.
On another day of mass protests over immigration raids and the federal deployment of military forces to the state, Newsom said in a video on his Instagram that Trump’s immigration crackdown had gone well beyond arresting criminals and that “dishwashers, gardeners, day labourers and seamstresses” are among those being detained.
This video was then shared by Monty on his own page, demonstrating his apparent disapproval of the events that have occurred on the streets of LA in recent days, which have seen Trump, saying that troops were needed to “liberate” Los Angeles from a “migrant invasion.”
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a key architect of the president’s immigration crackdown, said on social media that the city is proof of how migration “unravels” a society.
However, the post from Monty could raise questions, as those working for the BBC are supposed to remain politically unbiased. While the broadcaster does strive for impartiality, there have been several instances where stars have shared their political views.
Previously Lord Sugar of The Apprentice, engaged in political outbursts, from newspaper interviews calling on people to vote Conservative to tweeting a mocked-up image of Jeremy Corbyn sitting next to Adolf Hitler.
Meanwhile, Dame Mary Berry of The Great British Bake Off has expressed scepticism about the government’s sugar tax in previous interviews and called for changes to the national curriculum to include cooking skills.
The most famous example, however, is Gary Lineker, who has recently departed the public broadcaster after a scandal over alleged antisemitism. On his Instagram story from the group Palestine Lobby, which attacked Zionism, with a caption reading: “They take the land and claim it as theirs.”
The graphic featured a small illustration of a rat, which has for decades been used as an antisemitic trope. Lineker, faced with a growing backlash, deleted the post and later apologised.
Monty, who has previously written a column for the Observer and also for the Daily Mail, shared he does “not an ounce of tribalism in me,” and revealed: “I feel no affiliation to any political party.
“I will vote for who I think will do the best job, which, for the record, is none of them at the moment. But somebody who would look after people, enable people and not be venal.”
He shared what it was like to have no money when his family survived on unemployment benefits. “Nobody wants to be poor; nobody chooses to be poor. The disparity between the rich and the poor is obscene.”