Sir Ed Davey has called on Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage to unite in defending the BBC against attacks from Donald Trump.
On Sunday, director general Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness both announced their resignations, following criticism over a the way a Panorama documentary edited Donald Trump’s infamous January 6 speech in 2021.
The story came to light after the Telegraph published a leaked memo from Michael Prescott, who served as an independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board for three years, before leaving in June.
In the memo, Prescott suggested the Panorama programme had put two parts of Trump’s speech together to make it look like he explicitly encouraged the subsequent Capitol Hill riots.
Trump has welcomed the news of Davie and Turness’s resignations, after having previously attacked the BBC over the Panorama programme and labelling the journalists involved “corrupt.”
This has prompted concern from many over whether Davie and Furness’s departures were as a result of pressure from the Trump administration.
Now, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has called on other major political leaders in the UK to unite in condemning Trump’s attack on the corporation and to defend the BBC.
In a letter to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, he said “we cannot afford” to let the BBC “be destroyed by Donald Trump and his allies.”
Davey continued: “It should be extremely concerning to us all to see the President of the United States pressuring the BBC over its leadership and attacking its journalists as ‘corrupt.”
He also referenced how the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had encouraged “everyone to watch GB News.”
“It should not be up to foreign powers to dictate where the British people get their news from,” Davey continued.
“We must stand united to defend our democracy from foreign interferences like this – even when it comes from a crucial ally.”
Prescott’s memo also criticised the BBC’s coverage of other issues such as the war in Gaza and trans rights.
On Monday morning, Turness has dismissed suggestions the corporation is institutionally biased .
Speaking outside the BBC, she said: “I would like to say it has been the privilege of my career to serve as the CEO of BBC News and to work with our brilliant team of journalists.”
“I stepped down over the weekend because the buck stops with me. But I’d like to make one thing very clear, BBC News is not institutionally biased. That’s why it’s the world’s most trusted news provider.”
On President Trump’s comments about the corporation, she said: “Of course our journalists aren’t corrupt. Our journalists are hardworking people who strive for impartiality and I will stand by their journalism.”