Presenter Guto Harri ‘quits GB News following row over taking the knee’, according to reports

Guto Harri has quit GB News following a row over him taking the knee during a debate on the racism directed towards England football players, it has been reported.

GB News said its presenter Guto Harri breached its "standards" by taking the knee on air in support of England's footballers.

The Welsh journalist and former advisor to Boris Johnson decided to leave the right-wing news channel after he was suspended following a viewer backlash over his actions, according to the BBC.

Last week GB News apologised after Harri made the gesture on air in response to the abuse suffered by members of the national side following their loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

The statement said: “GB News stands four square against racism in all its forms. We do not have a company line on taking the knee.

“Some of our guests have been in favour, some against. All are anti-racist. We have editorial standards that all GB News journalists uphold.

“On Tuesday a contributing presenter took the knee live on air and this was an unacceptable breach of our standards.

“We let both sides of the argument down by oversimplifying a very complex issue.”

Writing in the Sunday Times, Harri said: “I joined, part-time but with an ongoing commitment, because I liked and trusted those in charge and supported the broad vision.

“But the channel is rapidly becoming an absurd parody of what it proclaimed to be.

“Rather than defending free speech and confronting cancel culture, it has set out to replicate it on the far right.”

On Saturday it was announced that Nigel Farage would present a daily show on GB News.

Farage said he “will not be taking the knee for anyone on this show” in a video announcing the news.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.