BBC Under Fire: Trump Scandal 🔥 📉

World News

Senior figures involved in the BBC’s recent challenges will be questioned by Members of Parliament on Monday. Michael Prescott, a former editorial adviser who raised concerns regarding BBC reporting, including the edit of a Donald Trump speech by Panorama, will appear in public for the first time before the House of Commons committee. Following the leak of an internal memo authored by Prescott earlier this month, which fueled the resignations of the BBC’s director general and head of news, the parliamentary committee will hear from several key individuals. Besides Prescott, the session will include BBC chairman Samir Shah, who is facing scrutiny over the handling of the affair, and fellow board members Sir Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson. Caroline Daniel, another former editorial adviser, will also provide evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, beginning at 15:30 GMT. The committee is expected to probe the processes of the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC), led by Sir Robbie Gibb, Shah, and Davie, and assess how it ensures output complies with the BBC’s editorial guidelines. The session’s focus will extend to the broader state of the BBC and its journalism, and to garner accounts of events behind the scenes. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has expressed concerns regarding the perception of political influence, stating there is “a real concern, which I share, that political appointments to the board of the BBC damaged confidence and trust in the BBC’s impartiality,” and that she intends to examine the issue as part of the corporation’s next charter review. Sir Robbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC board by the Conservative government in 2021 and has faced accusations of interfering in editorial decisions. He sits on the EGSC alongside Shah, Davie and Thomson, who is the BBC’s former chief operating officer. The BBC now faces a significant legal battle with Donald Trump, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stated the BBC must “put house in order” over the mistakes made.