Nandy rules out taking action to remove Robbie Gibb from BBC board

Sarah Owen, the Labour MP, says the BBC did make an editing mistake in its Panorama documentary. But, she says, the only people who are enjoying this are those politicians who do not want a free press.

She asks if Nandy will review the influence of Robbie Gibb, the former Tory spin doctor, on the BBC board.

Nandy says there is a strict legal threshold for the dismissal of a board member. So she cannot do what Owen is proposing, she says.

UPDATE: Nandy said:

In relation to the board, [Owen] will be aware that the charter sets a strict legal threshold that must be met before dismissal of a board member, and so I am unable to pursue the course of action that she suggests.

Key events

Early evening summary

Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has told MPs that she does not have the power to remove the former Tory spin doctor Robbie Gibb from the BBC’s board. (See 5.33pm.) She was speaking during a Commons statement that saw several opposition MPs criticise Gibb for the role he has played as a board member. In a reference to Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, Nandy also criticised MPs who have described the BBC as institutionally biased. (See 5.24pm.) Many MPs criticised the BBC for the way it edited a clip of Donald Trump’s 6 January 2021 speech. But generally MPs did not comment on his threat to sue the BBC for $1bn.

Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, has told MPs that he is going to review the government’s decision not to pay compensation to the Waspi women in the light of new evidence that has come to light. But that did not mean compensation definitely would be paid, he said. (See 5pm.)

For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.

Members of the UK armed forces during the Western Front Association’s Armistice Day ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, central London. today. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Manuela Perteghella (Lib Dem) did not agree with Julian Lewis. (See 6.19am.) She said there were serious concerns about Robbie Gibb. If Nandy could not get rid of him, what could she do to restore trust in the BBC?

Nandy said she would like to push back against the idea that the BBC is not trusted. It is the most trusted news organisation in the UK, she says.

Julian Lewis (Con) said MPs should not be criticising Robbie Gibb, when he had nothing to do with the editing error that had led to Donald Trump to sue the BBC for $1bn. He cited a Guardian report today as an example of why people were focusing on the wrong issue.

The crisis has nothing to do with Robbie Gibb. It has something to do with a mindset that, on the front page of today’s Guardian, has the whole thing about Robbie Gibb, and relegates the fact that $1bn lawsuit may be taken out by Donald Trump against the BBC to a tiny paragraph at the end of the article on page two.

If you want to know what’s wrong with some bits of the BBC, read the Guardian today.

“If you want to know what’s wrong with the BBC, read the Guardian” – that would make a great marketing slogan for us. But Lewis did not mean it as a compliment.

In the Commons Siân Berry, the Green MP, also joined those calling for Robbie Gibb to sacked from the BBC board.

Roger Gale (Con), a former radio and TV producer, said the BBC Panorama programme was a “travesty” and “deeply dishonest”. He said an edit should never change the meaning of what was said. But he said, unlike some of his colleagues, he believed the “overwhelming majority” worked hard to deliver the truth.

Rebecca Paul (Con) condemned the BBC for its reporting of trans issues. She said the BBC had not properly covered the “issues such as the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in children, the placing of violent men in women’s prisons, and the loss of women’s medals in sport topological males”.

And she said the BBC had “attributed the crimes of violent men to women” (ie, trans women).

Nandy said it was not the job of politicians to tell broadcasters what they could and could not say.

Pamela Nash (Lab) told the Commons that her biggest complaint about the BBC was the fact that it has allowed Nigel Farage to appear on Question Times “more times than he has visited his own constituency”. But she praised it for making every effort to maintain balance.

Nandy agreed, saying the BBC was “the most trusted news source of news in this country”.

In the Commons the SNP Pete Wishart also called for Robbie Gibb to be sacked from the BBC’s board.

Back in the Commons, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said she has been given a full explanation by the BBC as to why it took so long for them to apologise for the editing of the Trump speech. She said she expected BBC leaders to explain this for themselves when they give evidence to the Commons culture committee.

Shah dismisses staff question about board’s values as ‘disrespectful’

Frances Mao

Frances Mao is a Guardian reporter.

Another question posed to Samir Shah, the BBC chair, and Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, during the all-staff call this morning was whether the BBC board executives were adhering to the corporation’s six core BBC Values, as listed in its charter and mission statement.

Every BBC employee is required to uphold these values which include Trust (being independent, impartial and truthful), being Accountable (and delivering work of the highest quality) and Respect (being kind and championing inclusivity).

Shah took the question and said that, of course board members upheld the values. He went on to twice describe the question as “disrespectful of the people on the board of the BBC”.

He repeated lines he said on Monday when asked about political interference or pressure on the board. “It’s important that people have a diversity of opinion on the board,” he said.

The Guardian’s Media editor Michael Savage has been reporting on the attacks on the BBC, made by board members from the same political perspective. Sources have said that Robbie Gibb, a former Tory spin doctor who helped found GB News, a rightwing competitor to the BBC, interfered in stories which he saw a too left-leaning.

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