The BBC’s charter review will examine political appointments to the broadcaster’s board, Lisa Nandy has said, as they have “damaged confidence and trust”.
The culture secretary was asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether the BBC board member Robbie Gibb, formerly Theresa May’s communications chief, had overstepped his remit and weighed in on politics.
“There is a real concern, which I share, that political appointments to the board of the BBC damaged confidence and trust in the BBC’s impartiality,” Nandy said.
“That’s something that we will be looking at as part of the charter review, which sets the terms for the BBC for the next decade, and which this government is about to kick off.”
MPs and BBC staff members have called for Gibb to be removed from the corporation’s board as the outgoing director general, Tim Davie, hit out at the “weaponisation” of criticisms of the broadcaster.
The creative industries union Bectu has also demanded the removal of Gibb.
In a letter to Nandy and the BBC board chair Samir Shah, Bectu, the biggest union in the BBC, says Gibb’s position is “a distraction and is untenable”.
The letter says: “It is vital that staff feel that both the government and the BBC board are truly committed to the future of the organisation, its mission, its independence and its values. Given this, we believe that the position of Sir Robbie Gibb on the BBC board has become a distraction and is untenable.
“We simply do not see how staff can have faith in the BBC’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.”
Philippa Childs, the head of Bectu, said:“The culture secretary has been very clear in her support for the BBC and its independence. It is time for her to demonstrate that by acting now to ensure the most impartial board possible for the organisation – that means Robbie Gibb has to go.
“Our members have worked incredibly hard to deliver high quality content at a time of cuts and redundancies. They are critical to the delivery of the BBC’s mission and the government must listen to their concerns regarding Gibb’s suitability, to ensure a BBC fit for the next decade and beyond.”
In an online meeting with Davie, BBC staff questioned the position of Gibb, who was appointed to the BBC during Boris Johnson’s time as prime minister.
Several said Gibb and all political appointees should be removed from the body. It has been claimed that Gibb pushed accusations of institutional bias that preceded the shock resignation of Davie and Deborah Turness, the head of BBC News.
Their departures over the weekend followed accusations of bias made in a memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee. He left that role in the summer.
His memo was leaked to the Daily Telegraph last week and reported over the course of several days. It included criticism of the way a Panorama broadcast edited footage of a Donald Trump speech, which has since led the US president to threaten a $1bn (£760m) legal action. Prescott made a series of other claims of a more general liberal bias at the BBC on issues such as trans rights and Gaza.
While the corporation has acknowledged failings, concern has grown over Gibb’s position on the board, amid suggestions that he played a role in pushing Prescott’s claims and in Prescott being awarded the advisory role. Both Gibb and Prescott have been summoned to give evidence to the Commons culture, media and sport committee.
On Thursday, the BBC apologised to Trump over the editing of the Panorama documentary.
However, the corporation rejected his demands for compensation. His lawyers had threatened to sue unless the BBC issued a retraction, apologised and settled with him.
The BBC has also agreed not to show the edition of Panorama again.
The programme was broadcast a week before the US election. The spliced clip suggested that Trump told the crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.” The words were taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart.
