By Ian Youngs, Culture reporter
BBC chairman Samir Shah told MPs he will not walk away after criticism over a Panorama edit of a Donald Trump speech, apologising for “the mistakes that have been made and the impact that has had” and saying he intends to “fix it.” His appearance came after an internal memo by former editorial adviser Michael Prescott prompted scrutiny of BBC News and preceded the resignations of director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness earlier this month.
Shah opened his evidence by apologising “to all the people who believe in the BBC and care for it” and saying his priority was to “steady the ship, put it on even keel.” He said: “I’m not somebody who walks away from a problem. I think my job is to fix it. That’s what I’m doing.”
A job advert for a new director general was published shortly before the parliamentary hearing. Shah said he would like to create a deputy director general post because the top job is “too big for one person.” He accepted criticism that the BBC was slow to act on concerns raised in Prescott’s memo and slow to respond publicly after the memo was leaked to the Telegraph. “Looking back, I think we should have made the decision [to apologise] earlier,” he said, acknowledging delays while the corporation investigated and agreed the wording of an apology.
MPs heard there had been a “continuing and sharp difference of opinion” between some board members and executives over that wording. The dispute centred on whether the BBC should apologise for giving the impression that Mr Trump had made a “call to violent action,” or instead apologise for failing to make clear that two sections of the speech had been edited together. Board member Caroline Thomson said some colleagues felt the Panorama clip had given a “misleading impression,” while the News department argued the edit was fair in context but should have been more transparent.
Shah praised Turness for doing the “honourable and proper” thing in stepping down but said he did not think the director general needed to resign. “The board wishes that the director general had not resigned. He had our full confidence throughout,” he told MPs.
Sir Robbie Gibb, a BBC board member and former Downing Street communications director, dismissed suggestions of a politically motivated “coup” at the corporation as “complete nonsense,” rejecting claims he had pushed a right‑wing agenda to influence the board.
Prescott told the committee he had grown frustrated by what he saw as a lack of action on issues set out in his memo, which ranged beyond the Panorama edit to questions over BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Israel‑Gaza war and reporting on trans issues. He said management sometimes responded to internal reports by denying problems and that he was “in despair” when the Panorama edit was defended. Prescott said he remained a “strong supporter” of the BBC and had hoped issues could be resolved quietly; he does not know how his memo was leaked.
Former external adviser Caroline Daniel described Prescott’s memo as a personal account she would not label biased and said the BBC had engaged in robust debate and taken action on some matters. But committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage told BBC Radio 4 she found Shah’s answers “wishy‑washy” and remained unconvinced the board would act quickly or decisively. “We were really looking for hard evidence that the BBC board are going to grip this,” she said, adding she was “not entirely convinced that they can and they will” and that the committee was not “wildly enthused that the board is in safe hands.”