Labour could face a Commons grilling today over the BBC’s “doctoring” of President Donald Trump’s January 6 speech.
Shadow Culture Secretary Nigel Huddleston has tabled an urgent question surrounding alleged BBC bias, with Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to rule on whether to allow it at 11am, GB News understands.
Mr Huddleston is also believed to have written to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy over what actions the Government intends to take over the controversy.
The urgent question follows Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s call for “heads to roll” at the broadcaster.
Speaking to GB News on Tuesday, Mrs Badenoch slammed the BBC for the “fake news” scandal.
Shadow Culture Secretary Nigel Huddleston has tabled an urgent question surrounding alleged BBC bias
|
PAShe told The People’s Channel: “Everyone with a TV pays a licence, they are funded by us and they should not be telling us things that are not true. Heads should roll.
“Whoever did that should be sacked. That’s what Tim Davie should be doing: identifying who put out misinformation and dismissing them.
“The public must be able to trust our public broadcaster.”
In the Panorama programme aired just one week before the US election last year, two parts of a speech delivered by Mr Trump appeared to be stitched together to make it appear as if the President was encouraging supporters to riot.
Kemi Badenoch said that ‘the public must be able to trust our public broadcaster’
|
GETTY
The BBC programme showed the President appearing to say: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you and we fight. We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country any more.”
However, Mr Trump had actually told his supporters to walk to the Capitol to “peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard”.
Former BBC journalist and whistleblower Michael Prescott, who recently wrote a report on the public broadcaster’s bias, said he was “struck” by the Panorama programme’s “distinctly anti-Trump stance”.
Mr Prescott added that he was “shocked” that the BBC had not made a similar programme about Kamala Harris.
BBC BIAS ROW – READ THE LATEST:
Ms Nandy has told the BBC that it must “thoroughly investigate” issues raised by Mr Prescott, who previously served as an independent standards adviser.
A parliamentary committee has also written to BBC chairman Samir Shah demanding answers to the “serious questions” surrounding the impartiality of the public broadcaster.
Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage 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.”
In Mr Prescott’s 19-page dossier, the former journalist also accused the BBC of “pushing Hamas lies” over their coverage of the war in Gaza.
Ms Nandy has told the BBC that it must ‘thoroughly investigate’ issues raised by Mr Prescott
|
GETTY
A No10 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.”