Bbc blasted for 'left-wing bias' after spending £153,160 on guardian

The broadcasting corporation bought around 230 copies of the Guardian a day last year, according to a freedom of information request. This works out at an annual cost of £153,160. This has

resulted in the BBC being accused of targeting a "London-centric" audience. Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said: "There’s long been suspicion that the BBC is populated by

Guardian readers. "I wonder how many copies of the paper are sold outside of London? "And the BBC is London-centric. This is endemic Left-wing bias." The figures showed BBC

offices around the UK bought 71,916 Guardian newspapers in total during 2019. This works out to 1,383 copies a week. However, this is slightly less than the number of copies of The Times

newspaper at 72,396 copies. This meant The Times which was the most purchased paper from the BBC. But the difference in cover price meant more money was spent The Guardian. READ MORE: BBC

POLL: IS THE BROADCASTER WORTH THE £157.50 PER YEAR LICENCE FEE The Observer’s circulation is 139,851. The BBC bought 7,521 copies of this newspaper. A spokesman for The Freedom Association

campaign group called this "astonishing". The group, which lobbies against the BBC licence fee, said: "It does nothing to stop the criticism that they follow a Left-wing

agenda and are intent on propping up friends in the Left-wing media." It comes as new director-general Tim Davie said the BBC will push a new diversity drive, including hiring staff

from different educational backgrounds. He said: “It can’t be that we just take people from a certain academic track." A spokesman for the BBC said: "Counting newspaper purchase

figures is a daft way of judging anything. "But if you must, the BBC bought more copies of The Times than any other paper."