LONDON, ENGLAND - BRITAIN'S Sky News television channel on Monday joined the BBC in refusing to broadcast a Gaza charity appeal despite heavy pressure, saying it risked compromising its objectivity.

Sky, the BBC's only domestic rival as a 24-hour news channel, will not screen the appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella group of 13 charities including the British Red Cross and Oxfam.

'We have concluded that broadcasting an appeal for Gaza at this time is incompatible with our role in providing balanced and objective reporting of this continuing situation to our audiences,' Mr John Ryley, head of Sky News, said in a statement.

ITV, Channel 4 and Five, Britain's three other terrestrial television broadcasters beside the publicly-funded BBC, are all airing the appeal, which highlights the plight of suffering children in Gaza.

It is 'not about the rights and wrongs of the conflict', says the voiceover of the appeal, screened on Monday night. 'These people simply need your help.'

The Archbishop of Canterbury, several government ministers, more than 11,000 viewers and more than 100 lawmakers have called for the BBC to reconsider its decision.

Later on Monday, around 15 protestors briefly occupied the foyer of the BBC's offices in central London, before being ejected by police.

A handful of demonstrators also burnt their television licences - for which Britons must pay 139.50 pounds (S$290.86) per year to watch TV - outside.

Actress Samantha Morton, who starred in films including 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age', has said she will never work for the BBC again if it does not screen the appeal.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown believes it is a decision for broadcasters whether to air the appeal.

'It's not for the government to tell the BBC or any other broadcaster' whether to show the appeal, his official spokesman said on Monday.

'Clearly we support the appeal but equally we're not going to second-guess the editorial decisions of broadcasters.'

Details of how to donate to the appeal have been placed on the Downing Street website.

BBC director-general Mark Thompson told BBC radio the corporation was not going to change its mind.

'We worry that if someone's seen such a programme with these very emotive pictures... and then saw the same or similar pictures afterwards in an appeal asking for money, there is a danger that people might think we were endorsing one or other perspective on the conflict,' he said.

Meanwhile, DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley stressed his organisation was non-political.

'Political solutions are for others to resolve, but what is of major concern to us all is that many innocent people have been affected by the situation - and it is them that we seek to help,' he said. -- AFP