TIM Davie, director general of the BBC, is due to appear at the next meeting of the 1922 committee.
This comes amid criticism from the Board of Deputies of British Jews regarding the BBC’s language to describe Hamas and its “damaging” coverage of the immediate aftermath of the bombing of a hospital in Gaza City.
Following a meeting with Davie (below), the board said the BBC confirmed it is no longer the corporation’s practice to call Hamas militants, but instead is describing the group as a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK Government and others, or simply as Hamas.
However, as first reported in Huffington Post, it is understood that Davie’s appearance was arranged in July, before the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.
The committee constitutes all backbench Conservative MPs and is next due to meet on October 25.
Davie stood unsuccessfully as a Conservative candidate in 1993 and 1994 in the Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council elections.
He was also deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative Association in the 1990s.
His appearance has led to criticism, with Justin Madders, a Labour shadow minister, saying “if the director general of the BBC wants to talk to MPs he should talk to all of them of all parties, not just some.”
Sources at the BBC told Huffington Post that Davie would be meeting Labour parliamentarians in the coming weeks.
Davie assumed the position of director general in 2020, succeeding Lord Tony Hall.
Prior to this he was acting director general, where he oversaw the investigation into BBC management and conduct following revelations the broadcaster had known about sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile.
Davie faced criticism in October 2020 when he set out new guidelines for BBC staff which stated that they should avoid expressing personal views on current issues of political controversy on their own private social media accounts.
This included a ban on reporters taking part in “public demonstrations or gatherings about controversial issues”.
Davie later said that journalists could attend events such as Pride marches if they were “celebratory” and not “taking a stand on politicised or contested issues”.
