Key figures in BBC crisis to be questioned by MPs

Senior figures involved in the BBC’s recent troubles will be questioned by MPs on Monday.

Michael Prescott – a former editorial adviser who raised concerns about BBC reporting, including Panorama’s edit of a Donald Trump speech – will speak on the matter in public for the first time when he appears in front of a House of Commons committee.

An internal memo written by Prescott was leaked to the press, leading to the resignations of the BBC’s director general and head of news earlier this month.

Also giving evidence will be BBC chairman Samir Shah, who is under pressure for his handling of the affair, and fellow board members Sir Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson.

Caroline Daniel, another former editorial adviser, will also speak to parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee from 15:30 GMT.

They are expected to face tough questions from MPs, and to give their views on the state of the BBC and its journalism, and give their accounts of events behind the scenes.

On Friday, one board member, Shumeet Banerji, resigned over what he called “governance issues” at the top of the corporation, which BBC media editor Katie Razzall said “looks like a direct critique of” Shah.

Banerji’s departure makes Monday’s committee hearing “even more critical” for Shah, Razzall added.

The role of Sir Robbie, a former BBC senior editor and director of communications for Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May, is also expected to come under scrutiny.

BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness resigned following criticism after Prescott’s memo was reported by the Telegraph.

In a subsequent letter to the parliamentary committee, Shah apologised for the “error of judgement” when two sections of Trump’s speech on 6 January 2021 were edited together in an episode of Panorama.

Prescott’s memo also raised concerns about other “troubling matters” including “systemic problems” of bias in BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza war, and one-sided coverage of trans issues.

The committee’s chairwoman, Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage, has said Davie’s departure was “regrettable” but that “restoring trust in the corporation must come first”.

She said: “The BBC Board must now begin the long process of rebuilding the corporation’s reputation both at home and abroad, after the damage caused by what has become a seemingly constant stream of crises and missteps.”

The latest crisis has sparked a wider debate about the future of the BBC and the state of its news output, including claims of institutional bias and political interference.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said the perception of political influence is “a problem”, and that 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”.

She pledged to examine the issue as part of the corporation’s next charter review.

Sir Robbie was appointed to the BBC board by the Conservative government in 2021, and has been accused of interfering in editorial decisions.

He sits on the BBC board’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC) alongside Shah, Davie and Thomson, who is the BBC’s former chief operating officer.

The parliamentary committee said Monday’s session would focus on the EGSC’s “processes and how it ensures output complies with the BBC’s editorial guidelines”.

Prescott, a former Sunday Times political editor, and Daniel, a former FT assistant editor, advised the EGSC about “editorial risks and issues” after being appointed as the BBC’s first “external editorial experts” in 2022.

The session comes as the BBC waits to discover whether Trump will file legal action after threatening to sue the corporation for between $1bn (£759.8m) and $5bn (£3.8bn) over the Panorama edit.