The departing boss of the BBC has warned staff against the “weaponisation” of criticisms of the corporation as it faces a $1bn (£760m) legal threat from Donald Trump.
Tim Davie admitted the organisation had “made some mistakes that have cost us”, but hit out at the BBC’s “enemies” and urged colleagues “to fight for our journalism” as he addressed staff for the first time since resigning over the way a speech by the US president was edited in an episode of Panorama.
His comments came amid growing pressure on the team behind the programme, with two former culture secretaries calling for sanctions against more senior staffers days after Mr Davie and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, revealed they would be standing down.
Mr Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn over its misleading editing of his January 6 speech in an episode of Panorama, even after the broadcaster apologised for the “error of judgement”. His lawyers have written to the BBC demanding a retraction and compensation by Friday if the corporation wishes to avoid legal action.
Last night it was reported that the BBC had received legal advice that the president had not been meaningfully damaged by the Panorama edit, which would mean there was no need to pay him compensation. The BBC board would therefore likely fight his demands, ITV reported.
It comes as pressure grows on those behind the Panorama programme, after the chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, said there had been an “error of judgement”. Shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston called for the BBC to apologise to Mr Trump “and hopefully avoid legal action”.
Former culture secretary John Whittingdale told The Independent: “I do think that Panorama is clearly by far the most obvious and serious failure by the BBC.
“I would regard it as far more than simply an error of judgement. It raises real questions that Panorama can have produced a programme which, as the BBC chair acknowledges, created an impression that was totally incorrect. So on that basis, ultimately [Mr Davie and Ms Turness] have fallen on their swords. But the editor of Panorama, and those who had more direct responsibility for approving the programme, appear to have had no measure taken against them, no sanction whatsoever. That does surprise me.”
Former culture secretary Nicky Morgan also said she was “surprised” that no one had lost their job at Panorama, adding that the senior editorship of the programme should “definitely” be looked at.
Speaking to staff, Mr Davie also conceded that it had been a “tough few days”. “Maybe one of my biggest emotions at the moment is I care desperately about the organisation, the thousands of people who work for it, with every cell of my body,” he said. “I think they are absolutely wonderful in what they do.”
He added: “I’m fiercely proud of this organisation. There are difficult times it goes through, but it just does good work. And that … speaks louder than any newspaper, any weaponisation. We are the very best of what I think we should be as a society, and that will never change. We are a unique and precious organisation, and I see the free press under pressure, I see the weaponisation. I think we’ve got to fight for our journalism.
“We have made some mistakes that have cost us, but we need to fight for that. And I’m fiercely proud of that, and don’t let anyone stop you from thinking that we are doing a fantastic job.”
It came as the Liberal Democrats tabled an early day motion in parliament calling for Theresa May’s former adviser Sir Robbie Gibb to be removed from the BBC board in order to maintain its impartiality.
Sir Robbie was appointed under Boris Johnson’s government, and has been at the centre of the recent row, following claims that he “led the charge” over systemic bias in the corporation, which helped to trigger the resignations of Mr Davie and Ms Turness.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy warned the BBC that it had to “renew its mission for the modern age” in its imminent once-in-a-decade Royal Charter renewal. Ms Nandy also hit out at MPs “attacking the BBC from left and right for not expressing views they agree with”, saying that they “should consider just what is at stake”. But she rejected calls to remove Mr Gibb from the board, saying there was a high legal threshold that had to be made before action could be taken.
Downing Street declined to comment on the president’s threat to sue the BBC, insisting it was a matter for the corporation. Asked whether the government would help the BBC pay any damages that a court might award to Mr Trump, the spokesperson dismissed the question as “hypothetical”.
“Our position is clear: the BBC is independent, and it’s for the corporation to respond to questions about their editorial decisions and, more broadly, we have a close relationship with the US on shared priorities, including security,” they said.
Sir Keir Starmer has not spoken to Mr Trump about his threatened legal action, Downing Street indicated.
A report from Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, raised concerns that Mr Trump’s speech on 6 January 2021, before the attack on the US Capitol, had been selectively edited in the Panorama documentary to make it appear as though he had told supporters he was going to walk with them to the Capitol to “fight like hell”.
Following a behind-closed-doors meeting, the Commons culture committee called Mr Shah, Sir Robbie and Mr Prescott to appear before MPs in the coming weeks in relation to the row. Mr Prescott had been due to give evidence to MPs on the culture, media and sport committee on Wednesday, but that session has now been postponed.
Mr Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, has demanded that “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” made about Mr Trump be retracted immediately.
If the BBC “does not comply”, Mr 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 dollars in damages,” he warned in a letter.
The BBC declined to comment.
