Sir Keir Starmer today vowed to ‘always stand up’ for the BBC as he defended the broadcaster amid its damaging battle with Donald Trump.
The Prime Minister told MPs he was ‘a strong supporter’ of the BBC and said the ‘argument for an impartial British news service is stronger than ever’.
But, in his first public comments on the crisis engulfing the BBC, Sir Keir also urged the Corporation to ‘get their house in order’.
He dodged questions on whether he would tell the US President to drop his threat to sue the BBC for $1billlion.
Mr Trump has branded the broadcaster ‘100 per cent fake news’ in a furious row over the way in which one of his speeches was edited in a Panorama programme.
There have been further allegations of bias over the BBC’s coverage of Israel and transgender issues.
The growing scandal over impartiality has seen two top bosses depart, with Tim Davie quitting as BBC director-general and Deborah Turness standing down as head of news.
Sir Keir was quizzed about the crisis at Broadcasting House during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Sir Keir Starmer today vowed to ‘always stand up’ for the BBC as he defended the broadcaster amid its damaging battle with Donald Trump
The PM dodged questions on whether he would tell the US President to drop his threat to sue the BBC for $1billlion
The growing scandal over BBC impartiality has seen two top bosses depart, with Tim Davie quitting as director-general and Deborah Turness standing down as head of news
The PM told MPs: ‘I believe in a strong and independent BBC. Some would rather the BBC didn’t exist. I am not one of them.
‘In an age of disinformation, the argument for an impartial British news service is stronger than ever.
‘And where mistakes are made, they do need to get their house in order. The BBC must uphold the highest standards, be accountable, and correct errors quickly.
‘But I will always stand up for a strong, independent BBC.’
Sir Keir made the comments in response to a question from Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who hailed the BBC as ‘a great British institution’ and claimed it was ‘under attack from a foreign government’.
‘President Trump is trying to destroy our BBC,’ Sir Ed added. ‘Not because he cares about the truth, but because he wants to get away with his lies.
‘Trump has undermined press freedom in America, now he’s trying to do the same here disgracefully egged on by the leader of Reform (Nigel Farage).’
Sir Ed urged the PM to ‘tell President Trump to drop his demand for a billion dollar settlement from the BBC’.
He also asked Sir Keir to ‘guarantee that President Trump will not get a single penny from British licence fee payers’.
The PM declined to comment directly on Mr Trump’s threat to sue the BBC, while he also dodged questions about the future of Robbie Gibb on the corporation’s board.
Sir Ed branded Sir Robbie, who was Downing Street’s director of communications under former PM Theresa May, as among ‘Conservative cronies’ on the BBC board.
The Lib Dem leader said: ‘The last government spent years undermining the BBC’s independence and impartiality.
‘They put two Conservative cronies on the BBC’s board – one has had to resign, the other is still there.
‘But he’s been repeatedly accused of interfering in editorial decisions and staff appointments. Robbie Gibb should have no role in appointing the next director general.
‘Given the royal charter gives the Government the power to remove him, will the PM sack him now?’
Sir Keir responded: ‘I certainly agree with the comment that the last government undermined the work of the BBC – they undermined pretty well everything they did in 14 years.
‘I’m not going to go into the individual runnings of the BBC. I’m a strong supporter of the BBC in the terms I’ve already set out.’
