Byline: UK Political Correspondent Date: November 9, 2025
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is confident that BBC leadership is addressing allegations of systemic bias seriously. This comes after a chaotic week for the broadcaster.
Speaking on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Ms. Nandy said she has spoken to BBC Chair Samir Shah and its Director-General Tim Davie. Her intervention comes after a leaked internal memo from a former editorial adviser sparked a political firestorm over the corporation's impartiality.
"I am completely confident that Tim Davie and Samir Shah, the BBC chair, are treating this with the seriousness that this demands," Ms. Nandy stated.
A memo authored by former external adviser Michael Prescott and leaked to The Telegraph sparked the controversy. The most explosive claim in the document accused the Panorama documentary "Trump: A Second Chance?" of "completely misleading" viewers. According to the memo's author, the program allegedly combined two different clips from Donald Trump's speech from January 6, 2021, giving the impression that he instructed supporters to "fight like hell" as they walked to the Capitol.
According to reports, the BBC will apologize for the editing decision on Monday.
Ms. Nandy made it apparent, nevertheless, that political issues are more complex than a single program. She said, "It isn't just about the Panorama program, although that is incredibly serious." "A number of very serious accusations have been made, the most serious of which is that the BBC has a systemic bias in the way it reports on difficult issues."
According to reports, the leaked memo also questioned the objectivity of BBC Arabic's coverage of the Gaza conflict and implied that the network had been "captured" by a "Stonewall view" on trans rights.
The Culture Secretary offered her own scathing critiques while expressing faith in the leadership. She expressed her concern on the show that the BBC's editorial standards and language are "entirely inconsistent" and "not always well thought through," giving individual journalists too much latitude.
She went on to say, "I have talked extensively with the chair and the director-general about that, and I expect them to grasp it."
he BBC is under tremendous political pressure from all sides as a result of the accusations. Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary for US President Donald Trump, called the network "100% fake news" and a "propaganda machine" in response to the Panorama edit.
At home, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson demanded that Mr. Davie "either explain or resign." The corporation is now concerned that political rivals are using the leaked memo as part of a "political campaign" to discredit the broadcaster and "shift its reporting to the right."
The leadership of the BBC is now the center of attention. Samir Shah has been asked to provide a comprehensive response by the Culture, Media, and Sport (CMS) Committee, which Ms. Nandy stated she is awaiting.