John McDonnell: Labour politicians may no longer appear on RT TV station
Senior Labour politicians may stop appearing on the Kremlin-backed RT television channel, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said.
Following the Salisbury nerve agent attack - widely blamed on Russia - Mr McDonnell said he would no longer appear on the station, formerly known as Russia Today, and that there would be a discussion on whether others in the party should follow suit.
"I think that is right now and that is what I will be doing. What we are seeing from Russia Today sometimes goes beyond objective journalism from what I've seen," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.
.@johnmcdonnellMP says if Russia is involved in the attempted murder of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Britain will need to "isolate" that state.
He tells #marr that he will no longer appear on Russia Today #marrpic.twitter.com/6U7LKaxjGa
-- The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) March 11, 2018
"I have been looking overnight at some of what's happening in terms of the change in coverage on Russian television in particular and I think we have to step back now.
"I can understand why people have (appeared on RT) up until now because we have treated it like every other television station.
"We tried to be fair with them and as long as they abide by journalistic standards that are objective that's fine but it looks as if they have gone beyond that line, so yes, we will have that discussion."
