Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh had to say sorry for a blunder on the ITV show during Tuesday’s (January 28) broadcast.
The 47-year-old political correspondent, made an apology to viewers after she omitted the Jewish community while discussing the various groups who suffered at the hands of Nazi Germany.
Ranvir was presenting the day’s news, which included commemorating the 80th anniversary of Holocaust Memorial Day, as King Charles made a historic visit to Auschwitz to honour the victims.
The remembrance day is a poignant time for many, recalling the atrocities at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps and also marking the liberation of countless victims.
However, in her report on the millions who perished in the camps, Ranvir failed to specifically acknowledge the Jewish people who were killed during the Holocaust, leading to criticism from the Campaign Against Antisemitism, reports the Manchester Evening News.
On the programme, Ranvir stated: “Six million people were killed in concentration camps during the Second World War, as well as millions of others because they were Polish, disabled, gay or belonged to another ethnic group.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism expressed their dismay to The Sun over GMB’s segment, describing it as “truly beggars belief” and slamming it as “dire reporting”.
The critics also stated: “If this is intended to pay respect to the victims of Holocaust Memorial Day, it has failed abysmally and ignores the ‘true’ nature of this horrific event. Additionally, there is bafflingly no utterance of the word ‘antisemitism’ whatsoever.”
Following the backlash, Ranvir followed up with a formal apology, stating: “In yesterday’s news, when we reported on the memorial events in Auschwitz, we said six million people were killed in the Holocaust but crucially failed to say they were Jewish. That was our mistake, which we apologise for.”
ITV later released a statement, acknowledging the error: “In our studio introduction to the report on the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz we failed to acknowledge the Jewish community which we have since apologised for live on air in today’s programme.
“This failure was done in error, however clear reference to Jewish people in the correspondent news report from Auschwitz immediately followed, as well as a further extended programme report referencing the six million Jewish victims.”
The programme also highlighted personal stories of Jewish survivors, including a live studio interview with Auschwitz survivor Rachel Levy, and Olivia Marks-Woldman, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Trust.
We have contacted ITV for additional comment on this matter.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1, from 6am.