Journalism of Courage
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday said he will always stand up for a strong, independent BBC, at a time when the UK’s state broadcaster is facing its worst credibility crisis and a threat by US President Donald Trump to sue it.
“Will the prime minister tell President Trump to drop his demand for a billion-dollar settlement from the BBC, and will he guarantee that President Trump will not get a single penny from British licence fee payers?” Davey asked.
Starmer, however, refused to answer directly, but said he would stand up for a strong and independent BBC.
“I believe in a strong and independent BBC. Some would rather the BBC didn’t exist, I’m not one of them,” he said.
“In an age of disinformation, the argument for an impartial British news service is stronger than ever,” Starmer said, while adding that “where mistakes are made, they do need to get their house in order.”
“But I will always stand up for a strong, independent BBC,” he said.
Starmer’s comments come a day after Trump, in a Fox News interview on Tuesday, said he plans to pursue his earlier threat to sue the BBC for a billion dollars over the broadcaster’s edit of a speech he made after losing the 2020 presidential election.
“I guess I have to,” he said. “Because I think they defrauded the public and they’ve admitted it.”
In a letter to the BBC, Trump’s lawyer Alejandro Brito demanded an apology to the president and a “full and fair” retraction of the documentary, along with other “false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading or inflammatory statements” about Trump. If the BBC does not comply with the demands by 5 pm EST Friday, then Trump will enforce his legal rights, the letter said.
The BBC has come under attack from various corners over its flagship current affairs series “Panorama,” titled “Trump: A Second Chance?” which was aired days before the 2024 US presidential election.
In the documentary, the third-party production company that made the film is accused of putting together three quotes from two sections of the 2021 speech, delivered almost an hour apart, into what appeared to be one quote in which Trump urged supporters to march with him and “fight like hell.”
Samir Shah, the Chairperson of the BBC, issued an apology over the edit and called it an error of judgment.
BBC’s director-general, Tim Davie, and the news chief, Deborah Turness, have announced their resignations over the controversy.
