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BBC journalist Nick Robinson sparked an impartiality row as he appeared to criticise Jeremy Corbyn after his first major campaign speech.

The Radio 4 Today programme presenter faced a barrage of criticism after posting a tweet in which he accused Labour's leader of being "long on passion and short on details".

“No-one should be surprised that @jeremycorbyn is running v the "Establishment" & is long on passion & short on details. Story of his life," Mr Robinson's tweet said.

It sparked an immediate backlash on social media, where Robinson was accused of breaching BBC rules on impartiality.

Labour activist Eoin Clarke slammed the presenter and told him: “Details here Nick. Please do try and be impartial.”

Journalist Gareth Davies, who works for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, told Robinson on Twitter: “You may be right but is this an appropriate tweet for a prominent BBC journalist?”

Prominent University of East Anglia law lecturer Paul Bernal said: “Nothing makes me more sympathetic to Corbyn than seeing how @bbcLauraK and @BBCNickRobinson behave towards him. And I’m no Corbyn fan.”

Another Twitter user called Neil Macdougall added: “As a former president of Oxford Conservative Union he’s never going to be impartial", referring to Mr Robinson's role as president of the Oxford University Conversative Association in 1985.

Others called for him to remove the tweet or stand down as a BBC presenter.

Journalist Peter Oborne sad: “If Nick Robinson wants to enter politics he should step down as presenter of the Today Programme.”

He added: “If Nick Robinson wants to retain a reputation as an impartial BBC Today programmer presenter he should take this tweet down.”

Another user called Paul Brooker said: “If you want to offer your personal political opinions on Twitter @BBCnickrobinson you should stand down from your BBC position. For shame.”

But Cheshire-born Robinson remained defiant and hit out at the backlash, saying: “Curiously this seems to have upset some. Don’t think Jeremy would disagree with a word. Details may follow but never been his speaking style”.

He added: “Oh dear. Merely meant that people should expect Jeremy to do now what done his whole life – ie give passionate anti-establishment speech.”

The news man then posted a lengthy statement on Facebook by way of explanation of what had happened.

He said: "When I tweeted earlier that people should not be surprised by Jeremy Corbyn's approach as it was "the story of his life" some read it as being perjorative and evidence of that establishment sneering. I meant no such thing.

"My point was that the Labour leader is doing what he has done for decades and what brought him huge and unexpected success in his party. So no-one should expect him now to change his approach.

"I, on the other hand, will read my tweets twice to check they don't read as if I mean something I never intended. What's more I'll constantly remind myself that this campaign is likely to produce lots of moments where people cry 'that's not fair'."

A Labour source told the Standard: “He [Jeremy Corbyn] is the leader of the Labour Party, he can take it.”

Mr Corbyn gave his maiden speech of the campaign trail on Thursday morning and claimed he would “change the direction of this election”.

He vowed to bring power and money back into the hands of the majority and claimed Labour still had a chance.

The Standard has contacted the BBC for comment. The Labour Party declined to issue a statement.