Channel apologises to Mind after claiming charity funded legal fees of asylum seekers
Rupert Murdoch’s talkTV has apologised to Mind after claiming on-air that the mental health charity funded the legal fees of asylum seekers.
Presenter Mike Graham claimed on his show, The Independent Republic of Mike Graham, last month that the charity was claiming to fund mental health support while actually paying migrants’ legal fees.
Mind complained over the claims, which it has said were “plain wrong”, and pointed out that it was never approached for comment by the new channel.
In an on-air apology, broadcast just after 12.30pm on Friday, talkTV admitted wrongdoing during the show in which it said it “questioned why various organisations, including Mind, were providing funding to a charity called Migrants Organise”.
It added: “Mind has pointed out to us that the funds it gave to Migrants Organise were given for specific work to support mental health and not for legal fees of illegal immigrants. It says it’s transparent about the work it does and details of the projects it funds are on its website.
“We didn’t offer Mind an opportunity to respond at the time and are happy to do so now. We are sorry for any confusion caused by the discussion on the show.”
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