BBC Bosses are treating ‘systematic bias allegations very seriously,’ Nandy said

The leadership of the BBC treats the allegations of “systemic bias” with “the seriousness that these demands”, said the Secretary of Culture.

Lisa Nandy’s comments on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuensssberg Program come after reports of a panorama documentary editing a speech by US President Donald Trump.

The telegraph details in a leaked internal BBC memo suggesting the program had edited two parts of Trump’s speech together so it appeared he was clearly encouraging the Riots in the Capitol in January 2021.

BBC Chairman Samir Shah will address the culture, media and sport committee on Monday. The BBC is expected to apologize for the way the speech was edited.

The leaked memo comes from Michael Prescott, a former independent outside adviser to the broadcaster’s Editorial Standards Committee. He left the role in June.

Nandy said the issue of the panorama was “serious” but there were a series of “serious allegations” made about the brochure reported by the BBC”.

He added that he had “full confidence” Shah Shah and BBC Director General Tim Davie were treating the allegations seriously.

Mr. Prescott raised concerns in the documentary ‘Trump: a second chance?’ which was broadcast last year and was produced for the BBC by independent production company October Films Ltd, which was also approached for comment.

In his speech in Washington DC on January 6, 2024, Trump said: “We will go to the Capitol and Congress and women.”

However, in the panorama edit he is shown saying: “We’re going to walk to the Capitol … and I’m going to be there with you. And we’re going to fight like hell.”

The two sections of the speech edited together are more than 50 minutes apart.

“Fight like hell” was taken from a section where President Trump talked about how “rotten” the US election was. In total, he used the words “fight” or “battle” 20 times in the speech.

The Secretary of Culture Added: “I want to see [Shah’s] Answer to the select committee, and I will, of course, consider it and have further conversations with them about the action they have taken. “

Nandy explained that there were two main concerns related to the BBC, including the use of “inconsistent” language when reporting.

He said: “What happens at the BBC is decisions about editorial standards, editorial guidelines, the kind of language used in reporting are completely inconsistent.

“The highest standards are not always met, they are not always thought of, and it is often left to individual reporters or newsroaders to make decisions.

“That’s something I’ve discussed at length with the Director General and the chair, and it’s something I expect them to hold on to.

“My second concern about the BBC is that increasingly, they operate in a news media environment where the news and the dangerous environment in this country where people can’t trust what they see.”

As well as the panorama documentary, the BBC has come under scrutiny for a number of different issues in recent weeks.

The Telegraph also reported that Mr Price raised concerns about a lack of action to address “systemic problems” in BBC ARABI coverage.

In response, a BBC spokesperson said “When mistakes are made or mistakes happen we are aware of them in time and take action”.

And added: “We have also said in the past that some contributors should be unavailable and have improved our processes to avoid this happening again.”

Reports also say Mr Prescott has raised concerns about the BBC’s coverage around the TRPOR issues.

On Thursday, The BBC has upheld 20 impartiality complaints Above is the way Presenter Martine Croxall changed a script she read live on the BBC News Channel, referring to “pregnant people” earlier in the year.

Table changed his script to say “women”, and the executives of the BBC’s complaint considered the “strong impression of expressing a controversial matter.”