Eurosceptic : Conservative MP Sir Bill Cash , who chairs the European Scrutiny Committee . The BBC has a ‘ deeply concerning ’ pro-European bias and has ‘ fallen down severely ’ in its obligation to provide impartial coverage of the issue , MPs say today . The European Scrutiny Committee says the corporation does not give enough airtime to those who believe Britain should leave the European Union or that there should be a referendum on membership . The MPs also criticised the BBC ’ s director-general , Lord Hall , for failing in his role as the corporation ’ s editor-in-chief , after he turned down an invitation to give evidence to the committee in Parliament four times . Lord Hall , who earns £450,000 a year of licence fee payers ’ money , eventually relented after the committee told him to treat its invitation as a ‘ formal summons ’ . Sir Bill Cash , the Eurosceptic who chairs the committee , said : ‘ The BBC has fallen down severely on its obligations to viewers and listeners to give them a proper and balanced assessment of both sides of the argument . 'This is an issue that affects everybody ’ s lives . Who can say that the European question is not important ? ’ The Conservative MP argued that many of the BBC ’ s flagship shows , including Radio ’ s 4 ’ s Today programme , are stuffed with commentators who talk about the economic and political dangers of Britain leaving the EU . But , he argued , they have far too few people on its shows to explain what the benefits might be . Sir Bill said : ‘ There is a [ line ] of questioning which is quite clearly geared to elicit the answers , “ I don ’ t want a referendum ” , or “ I don ’ t want Britain to leave the European Union. ” . 'There are two sides of the argument . Why don ’ t they have more people on so they can represent them ? That [ bias ] is carried through an enormous amount of the BBC ’ s flagship programmes. ’ It is not the first time the committee has called on the BBC to give more airtime to Eurosceptics . The cross-parliamentary group said in 2005 that the corporation should have to air a series of debates about Britain ’ s position in the EU , to help educate the public . MPs also criticised the BBC ’ s director-general , Lord Hall , above , for failing in his role as the corporation ’ s editor-in-chief , after he turned down an invitation to give evidence to the committee in Parliament four times . But in today ’ s report MPs say the BBC has done little to change things , and that they ‘ remain deeply concerned about the manner ’ in which the corporation tackles the subject of the EU . They were particularly angry with Lord Hall . ‘ He is editor-in-chief , ’ said Sir Bill . ‘ He has responsibility for ensuring that the [ BBC ] Charter and Framework Agreement are complied with . The charter does not give them absolute editorial independence . They have to work within a framework. ’ The committee had to write to the director-general five times over the course of a year before he agreed to appear before members . Even then , he only did so after the committee told him it was a ‘ formal summons ’ and accused him of hiding behind historic rules which would let him off the hook because of his peerage . Members of the Lords do have the right to decline invitations to appear before the Commons . Lord Hall has denied ever trying to take advantage of his peerage in this way . A BBC spokesman said : ‘ As Lord Hall told the committee , we are and will be impartial in all matters concerning our coverage . ‘ The BBC provides extensive coverage of both European and parliamentary issues and while we respect the committee ’ s role , it would be a breach of our independence if a committee of MPs were to instruct us how to cover an individual issue or story . ’
BBC has 'concerning ' pro-the European Scrutiny Committee bias , EU said . Sir Bill Cash argued flagship shows do n't give Eurosceptics enough airtime . MPs also criticised Lord Hall for failing in his role as BBC 's editor-in chief .