Good morning. In 2004, when Greg Dyke quit the BBC in the wake of the Hutton inquiry, a much younger me was at the beginning of my media career, working at BBC Online. I remember staff felt the relatively popular director general had been the victim of the government lashing out after the death of David Kelly, and a failure to produce convincing evidence of the fabled weapons of mass destruction that supposedly supported Tony Blair’s decision to invade Iraq.
Many BBC staff will no doubt have been feeling a similar grievance after the abrupt resignations of director general Tim Davie and head of BBC News Deborah Turness on Sunday. They departed after a week of concerted attacks on the organisation orchestrated by the rightwing press and figures closely associated with the Conservative party – particularly Boris Johnson’s administration.
For today’s newsletter, I spoke to the Guardian’s media editor, Michael Savage, about what this affair tells us about the editorial issues at the BBC, the failures of its governance, the political agenda against it, and why the crisis comes at a critical juncture for the future of the nation’s original public service broadcaster. Before that, here are the headlines.
Five big stories
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UK politics | Rachel Reeves is planning to remove the two-child benefit cap in full in the November budget, in a move that could cost more than £3bn but lift 350,000 children out of poverty.
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Environment | Governments failing to shift to a low-carbon economy will be blamed for famine and conflict abroad, the UN’s climate chief warned at the start of Cop30 climate talks in Brazil.
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France | The former French president Nicholas Sarkozy has been released from prison, after a judge ruled he could serve the rest of his sentence at home, pending an appeal. Earlier he had told a Paris appeal court that his three weeks in jail had been a “nightmare”.
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Protest | Ministers banned Palestine Action despite being told by their advisers it could “inadvertently enhance” the group’s profile, an official government document written three months before the proscription of the group shows.
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Books | Hungarian-British author David Szalay has won the 2025 Booker prize for his novel Flesh.
In depth: Boardroom politics, culture war pressures and a BBC left adrift
To lose one senior BBC executive may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose two looks like a crisis. The Guardian’s media editor, Michael Savage, told me that a few things are happening at the same time: “One is Michael Prescott’s letter that’s been put together listing what he says are failings at the BBC over a long period. They’re all coming from one political position – worrying the BBC has become too liberal in its views on things like transgender rights, Donald Trump and Israel’s war in Gaza.”
Michael added: “Beyond that, there’s a sense that, while there may be some genuine failings, there is also a complete absence of the BBC defending itself at a crucial period, which has allowed the situation to escalate. And with the charter renewal imminent in 2027, there is an open question about what a future for the BBC might look like.”
On Monday, BBC chair Samir Shah apologised for the Trump edit, admitting it “gave the impression of a direct call for violent action”, and promised a review of every item raised in Prescott’s memo.
How does this scandal compare to previous crises?
The BBC does seem to have a collective crisis every decade or so. There was the aforementioned Dyke resignation in 2004. Then, in 2012, George Entwistle resigned after being in the role just 54 days – barely longer than Liz Truss was prime minister. He went after an edition of Newsnight wrongly implicated a Conservative peer in a historic child abuse scandal in Wales while the BBC was already facing a storm of criticism over its handling of allegations against the paedophile Jimmy Savile.
Compared to those seismic events, one incorrectly edited clip of Donald Trump and a litany of rightwing culture war talking points seems like rather small beer, so why has this caused such an upheaval?
Michael tells me the scale of the fallout is less about the original mistake and more about the political machinery around it. “The Johnson administration appoints someone – Robbie Gibb – with a particular point of view; he then appoints the former Sunday Times political editor Prescott, who may be like-minded; then that person publishes a critical letter; and the BBC’s opponents use it to attack the organisation.”
He adds: “Whatever the real editorial failings, that chain of events has led to this extraordinary outcome.”
A question of governance
Amidst that huge political pressure, Michael points to an issue of weak governance at the BBC leading to the perfect storm. Gibb, who helped launch GB News and was head of communications at Downing street under Theresa May, is just one of 13 board members at the BBC. It was a panel including Gibb that appointed Prescott to his advisory role, and it was Prescott’s letter that ultimately triggered the chaos.
But Gibb has also been accused of wielding outsized influence and steering the corporation rightwards. He finds himself in prime position to do so, as one of the only board members with deep editorial experience, in a team largely focused on expanding the BBC’s potential commercial revenues.
In an interview for the BBC yesterday afternoon, chair Shah said he “did not want to lose” Davie as director general, calling him “outstanding” and saying the job had taken a huge emotional toll.
He rejected claims of systemic institutional bias at the corporation and said that, with regard to Middle East coverage, critics needed “perspective and proportionality” given the hundreds of hours broadcast.
“I don’t think there’s a systemic bias in [the BBC being] anti-Israel – there are loads of arguments that suggest almost the opposite,” he said. Shah also denied claims that the board was politicised, adding that people had “a fanciful notion of what happens” there.
Where was the BBC’s fightback?
The BBC stalled in its initial response to the Telegraph reporting of the Prescott letter, and when it did come, Davie did not seem to offer much in the way of defending the BBC’s editorial independence.
“We’re told there were people inside the BBC who wanted to be more front-footed – to acknowledge issues with the editing of Trump’s speech, but to push back against the wider claims of systemic bias that Prescott was making,” says Michael.
But that didn’t happen. In her excellent analysis of the situation, Jane Martinson, the Guardian’s former head of media, said the BBC ended up looking “weak and cowardly, just when it needs to be robust and brave”.
Turness has defended those she worked with in Broadcasting House, saying on Monday: “BBC News is not institutionally biased. Our journalists are hard-working people who strive for impartiality, and I will stand by their journalism. Mistakes are made, but there’s no institutional bias.”
It may just be that years and years of the drip, drip, drip of criticism from the likes of the Mail and Telegraph has simply reduced the BBC management’s broader appetite for the fight – especially with Johnson’s insiders fighting their culture war from within.
Where does this leave the government ahead of charter renewal negotiations?
This all comes at the worst possible time. With charter renewal looming in 2027, the BBC is rudderless and leaderless just as the government has to start deciding how it is funded and what its purpose should be. A BBC with reduced funding and a smaller national footprint has clearly been an aim of the right for some while.
Michael says this poses a question for the government: “With Reform UK continuing to rise in the polls, and political attacks on the BBC increasing, will the government decide it needs to defend and protect the corporation’s independence in this increasingly hostile environment?”
The risk of Labour leaning into a populist anti-BBC sentiment is unlikely: it would be seismic, he tells me, for the government to scrap the licence fee. “If you want a BBC that makes programmes for everyone – left and right, young and old, news, drama, radio, children’s TV – then you need the licence fee or something very much like it.”
BBC staff may have been heartened by the firm tone from Downing Street yesterday, where the prime minister’s spokesperson said there was “a clear argument for a robust, impartial British news service to deliver, and that case is stronger than ever”, dismissing Trump’s typically bombastic accusation that the BBC is harbouring “corrupt journalists”.
Less encouragingly, the BBC confirmed it has received a letter from the US president threatening a legal case, which could prove costly to settle. According to reports, Trump appeared to be floating the figure of “no less” than $1bn (£760m).
after newsletter promotion
Who would want to take this ‘impossible job’ now?
The BBC should have spent the weekend basking in the glow of the huge zeitgeist-seizing success of Celebrity Traitors. Instead it finds itself in a crisis partially of its own making.
“The role of director general is becoming hugely constitutionally important,” Michael says. “Whoever gets that job will have a major say in big national conversations. The BBC also has a big role in combating misinformation and disinformation, and trying to hold the ring, as it were, on what is true and what isn’t in a very divided media landscape.
“These massive jobs are vacant, and they are incredibly difficult jobs to do. Two experienced people have concluded they couldn’t continue. It’s down to the board to make the appointment, but there will be political pressure from various directions.”
He continues: “It’s an absolutely crucial decision. So you need someone with experience, a big figure who can handle those issues and the ongoing political pressure. Does such a person exist? It’s going to be very hard to find them in these circumstances and with this level of scrutiny.”
What else we’ve been reading
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Alessandro Gandolfi’s photo essay about the Netherlands (pictured above), explores how the growing climate crisis and rising seas has led the watery country to embrace it with modern, sustainable floating houses. Karen
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Among the perils of the digital age are the increasing prevalence of romance scams. Anna Moore hears the heartbreaking – and expensive – details from those who have fallen foul of fake love, and offers tips on how to stay safe. Martin
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Dr Rachel Clarke, an NHS palliative medicine specialist, has witnessed first-hand the human tragedy of the end-of-life care crisis. While the government debates assisted dying, palliative care should be more than an afterthought, she says. Karen.
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It is refreshing to see someone come straight out with it – Dazed have an interesting profile of Anemone director Ronan Day-Lewis, who admitted to interviewer Nick Chen that getting to make a film with his dad is “obviously nepotism”. Martin
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After his massive victory at the New York City mayoral elections last week, this explainer examines how new mayor Zohran Mamdani might tackle the daunting task of paying for his bold agenda of rent freezes, free buses and universal childcare. Karen
Sport
Racing | Lando Norris (pictured above) has played down title expectations having taken a 24-point world championship lead after the São Paulo Grand Prix.
Football | After five defeats in six matches, Andrew Robertson admits Liverpool face a “huge uphill battle” to retain their title.
Cricket | England’s men’s team have all arrived in Australia ahead of the Ashes, but questions linger over their preparations.
The front pages
The Guardian leads with “BBC board member with Tory link ‘led the charge’ over claims of bias”. The Financial Times says “Trump issues threat to sue BBC for more than $1bn over edited speech”, while the Telegraph goes with “Trump to sue BBC for $1bn”. Top story in the Mail says “Trump tells BBC: Grovel – or I’ll sue you for $1billion”, while the Sun leads with “Beeb’s billion dollar bungle” and the Times has “BBC is told: Say sorry or Trump will sue for $1bn”. The i paper examines what might come next, with “Future of the BBC license fee in jeopardy as Trump threatens $1bn legal action”. “We told the kids everything … the good & the bad” – that was the Mirror on the Prince and Princess of Wales dealing with family health issues.
Today in Focus
Why Trump is threatening to sue the BBC for $1bn
The broadcaster’s director general and head of news resigned on Sunday night. But were unforgivable mistakes made or were they victims of an internal coup? Michael Savage reports
Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Two decades ago, Portsmouth city council defied funding cuts to save its youth and play centres – and the positive impact on children and young people’s lives has become astonishingly clear. Consider Buckland adventure playground, one of six in Portsmouth, which is a feeder for a nearby youth club and is surrounded by social housing. Molly Webb, 22, described it as being a “second home”, when she was growing up, a place “full of magical memories”, and she now brings her four-year-old son there.
Centres like these are disappearing in other coastal towns that have high levels of deprivation, reports Karen McVeigh in this in-depth piece for the series Against the tide. But Portsmouth has seen the payoffs, and not only for the children in the neighbourhood. The playground’s manager Nicky Andrews said she loves her work so much they’ll have to “carry me out of there in a box”.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.