At a glance
• The BBC should apologise to Donald Trump over its mistake in editing one of his speeches, says a UK minister
• But Downing Street declined to repeat the remarks by local government minister Alison McGovern
• The Conservatives said the BBC should ‘grovel’ to Trump
Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has backtracked after a minister said the BBC should apologise to Donald Trump over the editing of one of his speeches as the “fake news” storm engulfing the Corporation grows.
Local government minister Alison McGovern, on the morning media round for the Government, said the Corporation should say sorry to Trump for the splicing together of clips of the president’s speech which made it appear he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell”, omitting a section about peaceful protest.
She also declined to back the BBC against the $1 billion legal threat by the US president.
The BBC has apologised for the editing but not directly to the US president.
Asked if the Corporation should apologise to Trump, Ms McGovern said: “If they have made an editorial mistake, then they should apologise.
“The BBC is probably chock-full of policies on what they should do when they make editorial mistakes and I think they should stick to it.”
However, Downing Street declined to repeat the minister’s remarks over an apology.
“We support a strong and independent BBC but this is a matter for the BBC,” said a No10 spokesman.
Sir Keir has assiduously courted Trump, praising him with flattery, which has delivered some political pay-offs including Britain striking the first trade deal with US to limit the impact of tariffs.
Downing Street on Tuesday also declined to be drawn into Trump's threat to sue the BBC.
The No10 spokesman said: "It's clearly not for the Government to comment on any ongoing legal matters."
Asked if the Government would help the BBC pay any damages that a court might award, the spokesman said: "Obviously, that's a hypothetical question.
"Again, it's not for the Government to comment on any ongoing legal matters. 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."
Critics say the Prime Minister has failed at times to stand up to the US president, compared to some other world leaders who have taken a more robust approach to Trump.
As the “fake news” row spiralled, shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston suggested the BBC should “grovel” to Trump over its mistake.
“If you look at the complaint he’s got, the Panorama programme, he probably has legitimate claims to say, look, this was wrong and definitely requires and demands an apology,” he told Times Radio.
“So I would advise the BBC to grovel here.”
However, there were reports that the Corporation may refuse to bow to Trump’s demands for damages with questions over whether he would win the case if it went to court.
As the BBC crisis continued, Ms McGovern also suggested the furore was being overblown.
“The question I have is, has there been bad editing here? Has there been issues?” she said.
“If there has, the answer to that is to get better editing and to invest in quality journalism and sort the problems out.
“I don’t think we need to have a national meltdown about this.
“I think we need to make sure that the BBC, one of our most trusted media organisations, invests in quality journalism and tells the stories that we all want to hear.”
Trump has given the BBC a deadline of Friday to retract “false” and “defamatory” statements made about him in a Panorama documentary, or face a $1 billion lawsuit.
The US president threatened legal action after a report from Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, raised concerns that a speech Trump had made before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 2021 had been selectively edited by the BBC.
BBC chairman Samir Shah has apologised for an “error of judgment” and two of the corporation’s most senior figures, chief executive of BBC News Deborah Turness and director-general Tim Davie, resigned from their positions on Sunday.
Mr Davie has told staff the corporation has to "stand up for our journalism", insisting it will control its own narrative which "will not just be given by our enemies".
In remarks to BBC staff, he said: "We have to be very clear and stand up for our journalism. 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.
"I'm really proud of our work, and the amazing work locally, globally, that we're doing is utterly precious."
The Prescott memo raised concerns about the way clips of Trump’s speech were spliced together to make it appear he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell,” excluding a section about peaceful protest.
The letter, from Trump counsel Alejandro Brito, demands that “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” made about Trump must be retracted immediately.
Critics said the Panorama edit was misleading and removed a section where Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We will review the letter and respond directly in due course.”
Trump’s lawyer added: “Failure to comply will leave President Trump with no choice but to pursue any and all legal rights and remedies available to recover damages for the overwhelming financial and reputational harm that the BBC has caused him to suffer, with all rights and remedies being expressly reserved by President Trump.”
The letter says if the BBC “does not comply” 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.”
Trump has a history of suing news organisations in the US and previously settled a defamation case against ABC News after star anchor George Stephanopoulos falsely said he had been found “liable for rape”.
The President settled a legal dispute with CBS News over an interview it broadcast on its 60 Minutes programme with former vice president Kamala Harris.
He is currently engaged in legal action with the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
