British conservative news presenters Laurence Fox and Calvin Robinson fired
Two conservative journalists have been sacked by Britain's equivalent of Fox News, GB News, in what some have called a death knell for the channel that describes itself as a home for free speech.
Former actor and Reclaim Party founder Laurence Fox was dismissed after he said he would not "shag" a female journalist, and Anglican deacon Calvin Robinson was also fired for defending Fox.
British news presenters
Presenter Dan Wootton has also been suspended and is under investigation after he failed to push back on Fox's remarks.
Fox was sharing his reaction to comments Ana Evans made about men on the BBC, Britain's left-wing state broadcaster. She had dismissed the notion of a government minister for men's welfare, saying it promotes hatred of women.
"Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman - ever, ever," Fox said. "That little woman has been fed, spoon-fed oppression day after day after day."
Fox apologized for the comments, but GB News - launched in 2021 as an alternative to politically correct media - ultimately let him go.
"Controlled opposition"
GB News has declined into "controlled opposition," Robinson lamented in a video about the situation.
The channel's staff is split between "freedom fighters" and career-driven people who shun controversy, Robinson said, noting he was hated by employees for condemning gay marriage.
"A lot of people work there because they want to get their foot in the industry and either they have come from BBC or Sky or they are going to end up back at BBC or Sky, it’s a great shame,” he said.
How long can a station keep calling itself "the home of free speech" when it continues to engage in cancel culture?
I supported my friends/colleagues and will continue to do so. That should not be a fireable offence.
GB News is controlled opposition.https://t.co/kJXNpNE2bd pic.twitter.com/zk0VkdsKo8
— Dcn Calvin Robinson (@calvinrobinson) October 4, 2023
Fox News has faced similar criticisms among its U.S. viewers, especially after it canned Tucker Carlson, its most popular and controversial host.
Robinson said the problem at GB News became apparent when it forced out the famously irreverent Mark Steyn, who was also a former guest host on Carlson's Fox News show. Steyn quit GB News after the company pressured him to pay any government fines for his commentary on COVID vaccines.
A guest host on Steyn's radio show, Andrew Lawton, says that GB News has gender neutral bathrooms, in spite of the channel's frequent criticism of "wokeness."
So much for free speech....
Laurence Fox was fired on the same day that he was arrested for encouraging people to tear down surveillance cameras installed throughout London by the city's Orwellian mayor, Sadiq Khan, to enforce controls on fuel emissions.
Outside the police station, Fox said he was relieved that he was fired by the network and that he learned of the news while he was being booked. He dismissed his arrest as a stunt by Khan to "intimidate."
"It's not GB News, it's GB joke," Fox said.
"At least I don't have to go there every Friday night and have someone pretend that they believe in free speech while not believing in free speech whatsoever."
