Key takeaways from events today at the BBC
Frances Mao
A lot has happened today following the shock resignations of the BBC’s director general Tim Davies and News CEO Deborah Turness on Sunday night.
Let’s go through things chronologically, to show how it all unfolded.
9:45am GMT: Deborah Turness, the outgoing News CEO, turns up to the BBC’s London headquarters on Monday morning where she faces the press pack. She defends BBC journalism, dismissing President Trump’s attack that BBC journalists are corrupt.
“Our journalists aren’t corrupt. Our journalists are hardworking people who strive for impartiality. And I will stand by their journalism,” she says. “There is no institutional bias. Mistakes are made, but there’s no institutional bias.”
Midday: The Chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, releases the long-awaited letter addressing journalistic errors, including most crucially, the Panorama documentary which spliced together different parts of Donald Trump’s January 6 speech.
Shah accepts that the edit gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action” and was “an error of judgement”. He apologises on behalf of the BBC. He also details action taken to address errors made on other stories including Gaza coverage.
Immediately after the letter’s release, the BBC also airs an interview with Shah where he rejects allegations of “systemic bias” and “anti-Israel bias” in the newsroom and says the board is “not overly political”.
This comes amid reports, including by The Guardian, of a political campaign orchestrated by enemies within the BBC to bring it down. Shah says he and the board did not want Davie to resign.
1.30pm: US President Donald Trump threatens in a letter to sue the BBC. His lawyers claim that Trump, who was indicted by Congress for efforts to overturn the 2020 vote, has been defamed by the BBC’s Panorama episode. They issue a Friday deadline to the BBC, demanding the news organisation make amends or they will launch a $1 billion lawsuit. The BBC says it is reviewing the letter.
The Labour government and the Lib Dems have at various points today defended the BBC. Downing St says the BBC is not corrupt not institutionally biased and plays a vital role in the age of disinformation. The Conservatives and Reform say the BBC has shown bias.
4.30pm: The BBC’s deputy head of news, now temporarily in charge of editorial decisions, sends out an all-staff email announcing a pan-BBC call tomorrow.
Updated at 13.25 EST
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
A summary of today’s developments
Deborah Turness, the outgoing News CEO, has defended the BBC’s journalism, dismissing President Trump’s attack that BBC journalists are corrupt. “Our journalists aren’t corrupt. Our journalists are hardworking people who strive for impartiality. And I will stand by their journalism,” she said. “There is no institutional bias. Mistakes are made, but there’s no institutional bias.”
The Chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, releases the long-awaited letter addressing journalistic errors, including most crucially, the Panorama documentary which spliced together different parts of Donald Trump’s January 6 speech. Shah accepts that the edit gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action” and was “an error of judgement”. He apologises on behalf of the BBC. He also details action taken to address errors made on other stories including Gaza coverage.
Immediately after the letter’s release, the BBC also airs an interview with Shah where he rejects allegations of “systemic bias” and “anti-Israel bias” in the newsroom and says the board is “not overly political”. This comes amid reports, including by The Guardian, of a political campaign orchestrated by enemies within the BBC to bring it down. Shah says he and the board did not want Davie to resign.
US President Donald Trump threatens in a letter to sue the BBC. His lawyers claim that Trump, who was indicted by Congress for efforts to overturn the 2020 vote, has been defamed by the BBC’s Panorama episode. They issue a Friday deadline to the BBC, demanding the news organisation make amends or they will launch a $1 billion lawsuit. The BBC says it is reviewing the letter.
Downing St says the BBC is not corrupt not institutionally biased and plays a vital role in the age of disinformation. The Conservatives and Reform said the BBC has shown bias.
The BBC’s deputy head of news, now temporarily in charge of editorial decisions, sends out an all-staff email announcing a pan-BBC call tomorrow.
A BBC board member with links to the Conservative party “led the charge” in pressuring the corporation’s leadership over claims of systemic bias in coverage of Donald Trump, Gaza and transgender rights, the Guardian has been told. Sources said that Robbie Gibb, Theresa May’s former communications chief who was appointed to the BBC’s board during Boris Johnson’s administration, amplified the criticisms in key board meetings that preceded the shock resignation of the director general, Tim Davie, and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness. In an article for the Guardian, the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, called for Gibb to be removed from the BBC’s board before the search for a new director general begins.
Updated at 14.42 EST
On a similar theme to the first minister’s comments, the Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has penned a piece for the Guardian about Robbie Gibb’s position on the BBC board.
Share
Michael Savage
When Deborah Turness, the now departed BBC News chief, was first invited to a meeting with the corporation’s board a few weeks ago, there was little to suggest it would be a particularly significant encounter.
But instead of a routine meeting, she came under attack over an item added to the agenda.
The lengthy confrontation that followed set off an extraordinary series of events that ultimately ended in her resignation and that of the BBC director general, Tim Davie – and raised questions about politically motivated interference with the corporation’s news operation.
The board wanted to discuss a letter – and accompanying 8,000-word memo – it had received from Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC), who was making broad claims of bias at the organisation.
The claims, which would later be leaked to the Telegraph and reported prominently over a week, had been sent to the board’s chair, Samir Shah, and the rest of its members.
There were some serious accusations in the claims made by Prescott, once the political editor of the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday Times.
Most notably, he described how Panorama had edited together two parts of a Donald Trump speech without informing viewers. Other accusations were made over its reporting on Gaza and trans rights.
However, the criticisms were all made from the same political perspective: that the BBC’s reporting on such issues was too liberal and that it had ignored such concerns. Sources said that at the meeting, Turness was “on the rack” for more than an hour as Prescott’s criticisms were laid out.
“Make no mistake, this was a coup,” said a BBC source.
Sir Robbie Gibb’s position on the BBC board is being called into question amid bias accusations at the broadcaster.
Gibb served as director of communications for Theresa May when she was in Downing Street before his appointment to the broadcaster’s board.
The former broadcast journalist served in Number 10 for two years under the former Conservative prime minister and his appointment to the board of the BBC in 2021 was met with criticism.
Scotland’s first minister John Swinney said his position “fuels that doubt and debate about the independence and the impartiality of the BBC”.
Speaking to LBC on Monday, first minister and SNP leader Swinney said: “Robbie Gibb is a very clearly affiliated party political figure on the board of the BBC.
“If the BBC wants to be viewed as an impartial organisation that’s authoritative, that reflects the independence of commentary, then I think Robbie Gibb’s position is untenable.”
Speaking to the PA news agency, he added: “I quite understand the concerns that are being expressed, given the role and the contribution of some of the members of the BBC board.
“Whoever it is in the BBC has got to be able to live up to the standards of impartiality, independence and to be able to give that authoritative commentary and contribution to public service broadcasting, because that’s what we all rely upon the BBC to provide.”
Share
Polly Toynbee
Gotcha! The BBC’s enemies have taken two scalps and inflicted maximum damage. The shock resignation of the director general, Tim Davie, and the head of news, Deborah Turness, make it look as if the BBC accepts that it does indeed suffer from “serious and systemic” bias in its coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights. But in this political coup, only the BBC’s sworn ideological foes think a cherrypicked sample of journalistic errors amounts to “systemic” bias.
“It was indeed a bad mistake to splice together two bits of Trump’s speech; but it needed a quick apology, not a decapitation. The BBC’s chair, Samir Shah, I’m told, tried to persuade Davie to stay to avoid this apparent capitulation to critics: Davie should indeed have stood his ground, not weakened the BBC by walking away.
The shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston wrote on X: “There are many allegations of the BBC failing to deliver on its charter obligations on impartiality – and on it’s failure to abide by its own editorial guidelines.
“This points to deep rooted problems that go well beyond any one individual.
“The BBC must undergo a fundamental review to restore trust and ensure it delivers on its founding principles to inform, educate, and entertain.
“Public confidence and the licence fee depends on it.”
Share
Rachel Leingang
The editing of Donald Trump’s speech on 6 January 2021 has embroiled the BBC in controversy, led to the resignations of its top leaders, and given fuel to claims of media bias at the storied British broadcaster.
A dossier from a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee flagged the edit, among other instances of purported bias in the outlet’s coverage, which was leaked to the Telegraph. As a public sector organization, the BBC is required to be impartial, though it often faces claims of bias, particularly from the right.
In a broadcast of the news show Panorama before the 2024 election, Trump’s speech was edited to put together two sentences that were actually 54 minutes apart, making it appear as though he was telling people they would walk to the US Capitol and “fight like hell”.
After Trump’s speech, thousands of his supporters descended on the US Capitol, some of them entering the building and brawling with police to try to stop the electoral count. Five people died within days, marking a violent start to Joe Biden’s presidency.
The scandal had provided Trump another avenue to attack the media, this time overseas, and to relitigate the circumstances of the 2020 election and his attempts to overturn the results. He has threatened legal action against the BBC.
“The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these Corrupt ‘Journalists.’ These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election. On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!”
The BBC’s chair, Samir Shah, called the edit an “error in judgement”.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi is organising a letter to be sent to the culture secretary Lisa Nandy seeking clarification on whether the BBC board prevented a swift apology going out for the Panorama Trump edit and also why Tim Davie felt the need to state the BBC shouldn’t be “weaponised” in his resignation letter.
Antoniazzi told the BBC: “I’m not BBC bashing – I want to protect it.
“With both the director general and the head of news gone and threats of legal action from President Trump, this is a significant moment for the organisation.
“It’s up to us as parliamentarians to stand up for a free press – the fourth pillar of democracy – and help preserve the BBC’s journalistic integrity at all costs.”
She added: “This transparency is vital to allow the BBC to move on, and enable its news operation to continue its role providing fair, accurate, impartial news in a deeply polarised world, plagued by misinformation.”
ShareKey takeaways from events today at the BBC
Frances Mao
A lot has happened today following the shock resignations of the BBC’s director general Tim Davies and News CEO Deborah Turness on Sunday night.
Let’s go through things chronologically, to show how it all unfolded.
9:45am GMT: Deborah Turness, the outgoing News CEO, turns up to the BBC’s London headquarters on Monday morning where she faces the press pack. She defends BBC journalism, dismissing President Trump’s attack that BBC journalists are corrupt.
“Our journalists aren’t corrupt. Our journalists are hardworking people who strive for impartiality. And I will stand by their journalism,” she says. “There is no institutional bias. Mistakes are made, but there’s no institutional bias.”
Midday: The Chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, releases the long-awaited letter addressing journalistic errors, including most crucially, the Panorama documentary which spliced together different parts of Donald Trump’s January 6 speech.
Shah accepts that the edit gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action” and was “an error of judgement”. He apologises on behalf of the BBC. He also details action taken to address errors made on other stories including Gaza coverage.
Immediately after the letter’s release, the BBC also airs an interview with Shah where he rejects allegations of “systemic bias” and “anti-Israel bias” in the newsroom and says the board is “not overly political”.
This comes amid reports, including by The Guardian, of a political campaign orchestrated by enemies within the BBC to bring it down. Shah says he and the board did not want Davie to resign.
1.30pm: US President Donald Trump threatens in a letter to sue the BBC. His lawyers claim that Trump, who was indicted by Congress for efforts to overturn the 2020 vote, has been defamed by the BBC’s Panorama episode. They issue a Friday deadline to the BBC, demanding the news organisation make amends or they will launch a $1 billion lawsuit. The BBC says it is reviewing the letter.
The Labour government and the Lib Dems have at various points today defended the BBC. Downing St says the BBC is not corrupt not institutionally biased and plays a vital role in the age of disinformation. The Conservatives and Reform say the BBC has shown bias.
4.30pm: The BBC’s deputy head of news, now temporarily in charge of editorial decisions, sends out an all-staff email announcing a pan-BBC call tomorrow.
Updated at 13.25 EST
Departures ‘due to a political campaign’
“It feels like a coup,” sources from within the News department have told The Guardian. “This is the result of a campaign by political enemies of the BBC.”
The crisis was triggered by a Telegraph report on the leaked letter from Michael Prescott detailing errors made by BBC News.
Prescott was previously an independent adviser on the BBC’s senior editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC). He left in summer after three years on the panel, and wrote a letter detailing BBC errors to the BBC board after that.
Our Media editor Michael Savage reports that the departures of Davie and Turness appear to be an attempt to protect the BBC from further attacks following Prescott’s criticisms.
While many BBC figures believe Prescott’s letter referred to some genuine errors, there is also concern that it has been exploited by political opponents.
Some BBC figures have pointed to an effort to shift the corporation politically, dating back to Boris Johnson’s time in government.
The Guardian has been told Prescott’s appointment as an external adviser had been pushed by the BBC board member Robbie Gibb, Theresa May’s former communications chief who helped set up the rightwing broadcaster GB News.
Gibb was first placed on the BBC board during Johnson’s time in government. Gibb and Prescott have previously been reported as being friends. Gibb was on a four-person interview panel that appointed Prescott.
Johnson told the Guardian that any suggestion of an attempt to undermine the BBC was “complete and utter bollocks”. Prescott said in his letter that his criticisms “do not come with any political agenda”.
The BBC’s chair attached Mr Prescott’s letter in his submission to the parliamentary culture and media committee today. You can read it here.
Meanwhile others have also described what happened as politically-motivated. David Yelland, a former Sun editor and now presenter of a BBC podcast, said the departures were “a coup” orchestrated from the inside.
He told the BBC’s Radio 4’s Today programme that Davie and Turness had been systematically undermined by people close to the BBC board over a lengthy period.
Updated at 12.40 EST
BBC to hold all-staff call tomorrow
The BBC’s deputy head of news Jonathan Munro has just sent out an all-staff email acknowledging the crises. An all-BBC call will be held tomorrow, and another meeting for News staff on Wednesday.
“Following events of the last 24 hours, I’m writing alongside the rest of the News Board to acknowledge how difficult this situation is and reassure you that our vital and valued work providing trusted journalism continues.”
He says the coming weeks will be hard but “our trusted, impartial and agenda-setting journalism is more important than ever and must continue as our audiences expect.”
Munro also acknowledges the work of Deborah Turness, the outgoing head of news.
“Details are still being worked through about what happens next. Deborah’s successor will be appointed and we’ll share everything we can as soon as we know it.”
Updated at 12.06 EST
BBC concedes Trump video edit gave impression of ‘direct call for violence’
The BBC’s chair today admitted an “error of judgement” in the editing of Trump’s January 6 speech, which has prompted this defamation threat from the US president.
It showed two sections of the speech that were spliced together when they had been delivered an hour apart, and the edit did not note that Trump had also said he wanted his supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
Critics had said the edit made it look like Trump had encouraged the US Capitol attack. ( A reminder to readers that the US president was indeed indicted by Congress, and faced criminal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.)
The BBC’s Chair said today that upon review of the complaint:
“We accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgement.”
BBC News has also issued the same apology in recent hours, adding that there had been no intention to mislead.
Updated at 11.31 EST
Yesterday, in response to the resignations of Davie and Turness, Trump had attacked the BBC’s journalism, and praised the Telegraph for highlighting errors.
The rightwing Telegraph last week published a leaked internal report by Prescott, a former BBC standards adviser, who alleged failings in BBC coverage on transgender issues, Gaza and the edit of a Trump speech from January 6 during the Capitol Hill insurrection.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these Corrupt ‘Journalists.’ These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election. On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!”
In showing up at New Broadcasting House this morning, the BBC’s outgoing head of news Deborah Turness defended the organisation’s journalists.
“Our journalists are hard-working people who strive for impartiality and I stand by their journalism.”
She also said there was “no institutional bias at the BBC”, a sentiment also repeated by Chair Samir Shah today.
ShareTrump threatening $1 billion lawsuit against BBC
American media is reporting that the US president has threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn (£760m) if the news organisation does not make amends by Friday.
NBC and Fox News have details of the letter sent to the BBC, which accuses the organisation of making “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” in the Panorama documentary edit of Trump’s January 6 speech.
Trump has accused the BBC of defamation in a lawsuit lodged under Florida state law.
“Due to their salacious nature, the fabricated statements that were aired by the BBC have been widely disseminated throughout various digital mediums, which have reached tens of millions of people worldwide.
“Consequently, the BBC has caused President Trump to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,” the letter reads, according to Fox.
It demands amends from the BBC and says that: “If the BBC does not comply with the above by November 14, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST, President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages. The BBC is on notice.”
The BBC is yet to respond to Trump’s demands.
Updated at 11.33 EST
The National Union for Journalists (NUJ), which represents more than 30,000 members in media, has reacted to the resignations and set out some of the challenges the new director-general will face when they take up the job from Tim Davie.
As a reminder, there is no timescale for when Davie will be replaced and a successor has not been chosen.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said in a statement:
Our members will understandably be significantly concerned at this sudden change in leadership at the BBC, especially with the critical Charter Renewal process due to begin. It has been a torrid time in many ways for BBC journalists as they have navigated their work against a very challenging backdrop.
The new director-general must be politically independent and able to face the increasing challenges posed by financial pressures, AI-supercharged fake news, and efforts to undermine the importance of public service broadcasting.
The new director-general must be able to protect and advocate for the BBC’s universal reach, its unique identity as a globally trusted news organisation, and domestically as a valued public service broadcaster and producer of phenomenally popular programming.
Public service broadcasting has never been more important, and our members remain committed to the principles that have underpinned BBC journalism.
The BBC board has a duty to resist political interference and politicians hostile to public service broadcasting must not be allowed to further their agenda on the basis of these developments.
It is vital that the BBC board ensures that journalists are provided with the resources to do their job. We reiterate our longstanding calls for a properly funded BBC that is free from political interference.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has been asked about the outgoing BBC director general Tim Davie’s resignation in an interview with BBC presenter Matt Chorley ahead of her 26 November budget.
“The BBC is rightly held to high standards and they’ve fallen short on this occasion,” she said.
“Lessons do need to be learned, but I’ve got a huge amount of respect for the BBC and I know they’ll come back from this.”
Reeves did not comment on Donald Trump reportedly sending a letter to the BBC threatening legal action. You can read more from her interview in our UK politics live blog.
Former – and current – BBC journalists have reacted to the resignations of outgoing BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness after accusations that the corporation was failing in its duty of impartiality.
Lewis Goodall, News Agents presenter and former Newsnight policy editor, said the editing of Trump’s speech was a “mistake” even though it may not have “fundamentally” misrepresented the US president’s “overall actions” in the lead up to January 6 2021 and on the day itself.
He added in a post on X: “I’m no fan of Davie, indeed I think he’s brought a fair bit of this on himself, but the hysteria over this story is on another level.”
Emily Maitlis, who used to present the BBC’s flagship evening news programme Newsnight and is now a News Agents presenter alongside Goodall and Jon Sopel, said the story is “far more complicated than the headline resignations suggest- dramatic as those are”.
John Simpson, who joined the BBC in 1966, warned that the BBC is in “real danger now”, saying the corporation is “going to need the support of everyone who thinks that public service broadcasting … is worth defending”.
James Lansdale, BBC News’ diplomatic correspondent, posted on X: “Amid all the guff, just this: I am proud to work for BBC News & even prouder to work alongside so many outstanding colleagues. We are not perfect; we must always strive to be better. But in a darkening world, we remain a shaft of light. Worth mulling. All best from Kyiv.”
Updated at 10.02 EST
Key lines from BBC interview with Samir Shah
There was a lot said by the BBC Chair, Samir Shah, in his televised interview with Katie Razzall, the BBC’s culture and media editor.
Just minutes after broadcast, the BBC also confirmed it had received a letter threatening legal action from US President Donald Trump.
In the interview, the BBC Chair:
Apologised for the “error of judgement” made in the Panorama edit of Trump’s speech in the lead up to the January 6 Capitol riots, but noted that the edit had been done to “convey the message” of Trump’s speech.
Noted that they were prepared for the prospect – now confirmed – of Trump litigation.
Denied any “systemic bias” in news coverage, and denied accusations the BBC has an “anti-Israel bias”.
Said the BBC board is “not overly political”.
Stressed repeatedly that the BBC has taken action over the past three years in addressing editorial mistakes and that Prescott’s letter did not reveal new issues, but touched on ones already looked at.
Admitted that the range of corrective action taken might not have gone far enough.
Updated at 09.56 EST