The BBC is planning to overhaul the way it investigates editorial concerns, in a move that will dilute the influence of a Conservative figure accused of trying to sway its political impartiality.
A new deputy director general post is also expected to be created to aid Tim Davie’s successor as director general, after concerns that the task of overseeing the corporation has become too big for one person.
The measures are being prepared as the BBC reacts to a crisis that led to the sudden resignations of Davie and Deborah Turness, the head of BBC News.
They left after difficult board-level discussions over claims of liberal bias made in a memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC). Prescott left that role in the summer.
Key figures in the row over alleged bias will appear before MPs on Monday as the culture, media and sport committee examines Prescott’s memo and a crippling disagreement over how to respond to it.
Precott’s memo, which was leaked to the Daily Telegraph, accused the BBC of bias on issues such as Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights. While the BBC has apologised over a Panorama edit of a Trump speech, it has pushed back on Prescott’s other claims. Samir Shah, the BBC’s chair, said Prescott’s memo was a partial and personal account.
The fallout from Davie’s resignation has also focused attention on the role of Robbie Gibb, a BBC board member who was Theresa May’s communications chief in Downing Street and is a self-styled “proper Thatcherite Conservative”.
Gibb was placed on the BBC board by Boris Johnson and given a new term by the last Conservative government. MPs and members of the broadcaster’s staff have called for his removal from the BBC’s board after internal claims that he persistently raised criticisms from the political right about its output. Gibb also had a role in appointing Prescott to his position advising the EGSC.
Gibb is a member of the EGSC, giving him a significant say in discussions over potential BBC bias. The Guardian understands the BBC is now planning a major overhaul of the EGSC. The plans would expand its membership, ensuring that no voice dominates the forum.
In the EGSC’s last two declared meetings, Gibb was one of just four full committee members. The other three – Davie, Turness and Shah – were attending in addition to their jobs running the organisation.
Anna Sabine, the Liberal Democrats’ culture, media and sport spokesperson, said: “The crisis at the BBC, now being exploited by the likes of Trump and Farage, stems directly from years of Conservative cronyism.
“Gibb is the very last person we should trust with such an important role on the editorial guidelines and standards committee. Liberal Democrats are calling for the government to defend impartial broadcasting, remove Robbie Gibb and end the practice of all political appointments to the BBC board.”
Allies of Gibb have pointed out he is a persistent defender of the BBC and has supported the licence fee. They state that Gibb and others had been acting out of genuine concern about BBC coverage. The BBC has said Gibb was just one voice on a board of more than a dozen people – and one of a panel of four that appointed Prescott to his advisory role.
Prescott, who has not spoken publicly so far, has said his views “do not come with any political agenda”. Shah has dismissed claims of an internal rightwing campaign to sway the BBC’s coverage as fanciful.
Meanwhile, Shah is understood to have concluded that the challenges of running the BBC are now so great that whoever succeeds Tim Davie needs a deputy. While Davie was editor in chief, he did not have significant editorial experience.
Prescott’s most damaging criticism concerned the way in which a Panorama programme edited a Trump speech. The US president has since threatened to sue. Shah said there was an “error of judgment” and apologised but the BBC is disputing Trump’s claim that the programme defamed him.
Bectu, the biggest union at the BBC, has been among those calling for Gibb to be removed from the BBC’s board. It has said staff lack faith in the corporation’s leadership while “a crucial position on the board is filled by someone perceived by many staff and external commentators as sympathetic to, or actively part of, a campaign to undermine the BBC and influence its political impartiality”.
