The actions of the BBC\u2019s board have shown the broadcaster\u2019s enemies that a \u201cleak and launch\u201d tactic can succeed in destabilising the corporation, according to a board member who resigned after a row over alleged bias.<\/p>\n
Shumeet Banerji, a tech industry investor, quit the board on Friday<\/a> after stating he felt he had not been properly consulted on the events that led up to the sudden departure of director general Tim Davie and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness<\/a>.<\/p>\n In remarks in his resignation letter that pile further pressure on the BBC\u2019s chair, Samir Shah<\/a>, Banerji suggests Turness was effectively forced out, validating the tactics of the corporation\u2019s detractors.<\/p>\n He said he missed one board meeting, before stating that at a second, he had been \u201csurprised to hear on the call that Turness had already been told that she did not have the confidence of a majority of the board\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI was not invited to any meeting where a matter of such importance was to be discussed,\u201d his letter states, adding Shah had not allowed \u201creasoned discussions\u201d to take place.<\/p>\n His remarks appear to contradict claims from Shah. Appearing before a committee of MPs on Monday, Shah pushed back on Banerji\u2019s claims of being excluded. He said he had a 26-minute call with Banerji over the weekend of the two resignations.<\/p>\n Banerji appears to be disputing that, stating they spoke because he requested the call. He said he was releasing his resignation letter to BBC News, which first reported it, to inform misconceptions which may have arisen from Shah\u2019s appearance for committee members and viewers.<\/p>\n The resignations of Davie and Turness followed the publication of a memo written by Michael Prescott, a PR executive and former independent external adviser to the BBC\u2019s editorial guidelines and standards committee.<\/p>\n Prescott claimed there were \u201csystemic problems\u201d with the BBC\u2019s coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights. A fellow adviser who served alongside him disagreed with his account this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Banerji warned that the board\u2019s reaction to Prescott\u2019s memo, and the coverage it received after being \u201cpredictably leaked\u201d to the Daily Telegraph, meant the corporation had effectively given encouragement to its enemies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe evaluation of the performance of executives is a board matter, but not in the white heat of a press excoriation,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThis is what has happened here. The lesson for detractors of the BBC is leak and launch.\u201d<\/p>\n