That's "Right-Wing Prime Minister" to You, Says Growing Chorus of Corbyn Fans

In just ten hours, over 30,000 people signed a petition calling on the BBC to exercise a measure of “fairness” and begin identifying David Cameron as “right-wing Prime Minister”—just as the news organization leads any mention of the newly-elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with the “left-wing” descriptor.

“Every time Jeremy Corbyn is mentioned in a news report on the BBC he is referred to as ‘the left-wing Labour Party leader,'” the petition states. “In the interest of fairness and un-biased reporting, David Cameron should also be referred to in terms of his place on the political spectrum—’the right-wing Prime Minister.'”

One signatory, Fred Robinson from Norwich, said he signed “because I don’t want our Beeb to become Fox,” adding that the left-wing preface is likely used as a smear “because the Tories have threatened [BBC] with massive cuts.”

In a statement to the Independent, the BBC defended their use of the phrase: “Our journalists use descriptions of different political leanings to help the audience’s understanding or where there is a specific editorial justification. Mr. Corbyn was to the left of the other candidates and now he has been elected it is fair and accurate to say the Labour leadership is more to the left, or more ‘left wing’ than before. We do not use such labels in every instance, but we have taken a similar approach with the different political shades of other parties.”