HEADS SHOULD ROLL AT BBC, SAYS BADENOCH
The BBC is facing calls to sack its director-general and other senior executives following accusations of “serious and systemic” editorial bias.
The Telegraph has published revelations from a leaked dossier written by a whistleblower and sent to BBC board members that details numerous instances of apparent bias at the broadcaster.
The examples include a Panorama documentary that doctored a Donald Trump speech and that BBC Arabic “minimised Israeli suffering” in its coverage of the war with Hamas to “paint Israel as the aggressor”.
Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Opposition, said “heads should roll” over the “absolutely shocking” disclosures.
Israel’s deputy foreign minister called for Tim Davie, the BBC boss, to resign and for the Government to stop its taxpayer-funded subsidy of BBC Arabic, which she said had become “an anti-Israel propaganda tool”.
Following The Telegraph’s reporting, a parliamentary committee wrote to Samir Shah, the BBC chairman, on Tuesday demanding answers to “serious questions” about the broadcaster’s impartiality, while Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, told the BBC it must “thoroughly investigate” the issues brought to light by Michael Prescott, the whistleblower, who is a former independent standards adviser.
Mrs Badenoch told GB News: “It’s absolutely shocking. That is fake news, actually putting different things together to try to make something look different from what it actually was.
“And I do think heads should roll. Whoever it was who did that should be sacked, that is what Tim Davie should be doing, identifying who put out misinformation and sacking them.
“The public needs to be able to trust our public broadcaster.”
‘Propaganda tool’
Sharren Haskel, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, said Mr Davie should be sacked.
She said: “The UK Foreign Office must stop funding BBC Arabic, which is clearly an anti-Israel propaganda tool.
“There must be a full investigation by the UK Government into taxpayers’ money being used to fund a complete distortion of the facts when it comes to Israel and the conflict in the Middle East. Also, as I’ve said countless times, Tim Davie must go. How on earth is he still there?”
Anna Kelly, the White House deputy press secretary, said. “It’s shameful that many so-called ‘journalists’ spread lies and ran cover for Hamas instead of reporting the truth about the war in Gaza.”
The BBC has been plunged into crisis by the dossier, a 19-page letter sent to the BBC board, cataloguing alleged instances of bias, censorship and doctoring.
Among the examples cited was a Panorama special broadcast a week before last year’s US election in which two parts of a speech by Mr Trump were edited together, making it appear that he had incited the Capitol Hill riot in 2021.
Seven pages of the letter are devoted to the BBC’s coverage of the war in Gaza, in which Mr Prescott accuses the BBC of swallowing Hamas propaganda and “a desire to always believe the worst about Israel”.
He says that BBC Arabic, which is supposed to stick to the BBC World Service’s remit of providing impartial news and “reflecting British values on the world stage”, has covered stories in a “considerably different” way to the main English language BBC News website, sometimes including lengthy statements from Hamas that did not appear in the English version.
So-called journalists who appeared on BBC Arabic hundreds of times reporting from Gaza had posted anti-Semitic views on their personal social media profiles. One of them said Jews should be burned “as Hitler did”.
Among those criticised in the memo are Jonathan Munro, the BBC’s senior controller of news content, and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News. They brushed away internal warnings about the Panorama episode and neither Mr Davie nor Mr Shah challenged them, according to Mr Prescott.
Directors-general are hired and fired by the BBC board, while the BBC chairman is appointed by the Government.
In his letter, Mr Prescott says that BBC managers have repeatedly failed to deal with evidence of bias. He says: “I would argue that the executive’s attitude when confronted with evidence of serious and systemic problems is now a systemic problem in itself.”
Dame Caroline Dinenage, the chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport committee, wrote to Mr Shah asking him what he was doing to address the concerns raised in Mr Prescott’s letter.
She wrote: “The BBC promotes itself as the UK’s most widely used and trusted source of news. I am extremely worried that the coverage of Mr Prescott’s report is suggesting the BBC is engaging in precisely the kind of presentation that is associated with less trusted news sources.”
Depending on whether it is satisfied with Mr Shah’s answer, which he has been asked to provide by Monday, the committee has the power to summon him, as well as Mr Davie, to a public hearing to answer questions over the crisis.
Dame Caroline told The Telegraph: “The BBC clearly has serious questions to answer regarding both its editorial standards and the way in which concerns are handled by senior management … The committee needs to be reassured that those at the very top of the BBC are treating these issues with the seriousness they deserve and taking decisive steps to uphold the corporation’s reputation for integrity and public trust.”
Meanwhile, Downing Street said that it took criticisms of the BBC’s editorial standards “very seriously” and that it was “crucial the BBC upholds the highest standards of reporting”.
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Ms Nandy has received a copy of the internal whistleblowing memo. She has been told by the BBC that it is examining the issues raised and is being “kept updated with developments”.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “Senior officials in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have received a copy of the dossier.
“They have been assured by the BBC that they themselves are examining the issues raised in the report. The Culture Secretary is also being kept updated with these developments.
“Fundamentally, it’s crucial that the BBC upholds the highest standards of reporting and impartiality so it’s trusted as our national broadcaster.
“We take any criticisms of the BBC’s editorial standards very seriously and we expect the BBC to consider feedback that they receive seriously and carefully.
“Because the BBC is independent of government, it’s for the corporation to respond to questions about their editorial decisions.”
The spokesman said it was up to Ofcom, the industry regulator, to decide whether an investigation was necessary.
He added: “The Culture Secretary expects the corporation to report the news accurately and impartially. And she expects them to look into questions of editorial standards thoroughly, as that is obviously important to the public’s trust.”
The spokesman said the Prime Minister had “full confidence” in Mr Davie.
Ofcom was contacted for comment.
2025-11-04T15:20:42Z