BBC apologises over climate sceptic Lord Lawson interview

The BBC has apologised after it allowed global warming sceptic Lord Lawson to claim that temperatures around the world had not risen over the last 10 years.

A former Tory MP, Lord Lawson made the claim during a interview broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in August.

The Corporation had initially rejected complaints from viewers, claiming that it was important to give air time to ‘dissenting voices’ in the pursuit of fairness.

However it has finally admitted that it breached its own editorial guidelines on accuracy and impartiality.

According to The Guardian, the BBC’s executive complaints unit accepted that the assertions ‘were, at the least, contestable and should have been challenged’.

During the interview with presenter Justin Webb, Lord Lawson said official figures showed that ‘during this past 10 years, if anything, mean global temperature, average world temperature, has slightly declined’.

He added that the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ‘has confirmed that there has been no increase in extreme weather events’.

The BBC replied in writing to a complaint lodged by Dr Tim Thornton, a retied GP from Yorkshire.

In a letter seen by the Guardian, Colin Tregear, BBC complaints director, said: ‘I hope you’ll accept my apologies […] for the breach of editorial standards you identified.’

The Today programme received similar complaints in 2014, when it was accused of giving ‘undue weight to Lord Lawson’s views’.

MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment.

Lord Lawson (pictured on the Andrew Marr show in 2016) said figures showed that ‘during this past 10 years […] average world temperature has slightly declined’