Painter’s band Captain Ska reached the top ten with anti-Theresa May protest song ‘Liar, Liar’.
Currently sitting at number 2 in the UK iTunes is a song called ‘Liar, Liar GE 2017’, a song about Theresa May by the band Captain Ska. As you can imagine from the title, it doesn’t paint the Prime Minister as a particularly trustworthy person.
However, despite the song’s success, you won’t hear it on the radio anytime soon, due to broadcasting impartiality guidelines. A song that gets into the top ten can usually be expected to be played on Radio 1’s chart countdown, but Captain Ska didn’t receive that honour.
There were protests outside the BBC yesterday when they refused to play it, with the band even performing it live.
BBC won't play Liar Liar at no 4 in Top 40 by @CaptainSKA so they play it outside the BBC IN PROTEST! #olsx #ge2017 pic.twitter.com/PHqYn2ffJD
— 🇵🇸ceasefire 🇵🇸now 🇵🇸 (@redcablesunday) June 2, 2017
Captain Ska founder Jake Painter was however interviewed on Victoria Derbyshire. Yet he claims that he was told “not to go too heavy on the Tories” by the show’s editor.
He wasn’t shy about bringing that up on air.
https://twitter.com/James4Labour/status/870639971174166529
Was asked by the editor 1) not to mention our protest outside radio1 today at 4pm. (safety reasons) and 2) not to go too hard on the Tories
— Captain SKA (@CaptainSKA) June 2, 2017
The show’s credited editor Louisa Compton however denied Painter’s claim on Twitter, and says that it was not her that Painter spoke to.
I'm the Editor of the programme and it was not me you spoke to. My colleague who you spoke to assures me they were not her words. 1/2
— Louisa Compton (@louisa_compton) June 2, 2017
— Louisa Compton (@louisa_compton) June 2, 2017
In April 2013, Radio 1 refused to play ‘Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead’, when it reached number two in charts, following a campaign around the death of Margaret Thatcher.
