10 November 2025 12:43am GMT

Tim Davie has quit as BBC director-general Credit: Tim Whitby/Royal Television Society

Donald Trump has thanked The Telegraph for exposing BBC bias.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president wrote: “The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught “doctoring” my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.

“Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these Corrupt “Journalists.” These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election. On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!”

The White House wasted little time in gloating over the resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, posting a meme on social media which suggested Mr Trump’s influence had toppled the BBC executives.

The high-profile departures followed the revelations in a 19-page memo brought to light by The Telegraph that Panorama doctored a speech by Mr Trump to suggest he encouraged the January 2021 riots at the Capitol.

How The Telegraph’s investigation led to the resignation of Tim Davie

Nov 3 

An internal memo obtained by Telegraph reveals the BBC doctored a speech by Donald Trump. A Panorama programme, broadcast a week before the US election, spliced together two pieces of footage to make it appear that showed the president telling supporters he was going to walk to the Capitol with them to “fight like hell”. In fact he said he would walk with them “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”, with the sentence about fighting like hell coming 54 minutes later. .

Nov 4

The dossier uncovers bias at the BBC Arabic service. One man who said Jews should be burned “as Hitler did” appeared as a guest on BBC Arabic 244 times in 18 months, while another who described Israelis as less than human and Jews as “devils” appeared 522 times in the same period. It also revealed differences in how BBC Arabic covered Israel compared to the main BBC English language news website. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, calls for heads to roll over the revelations.

Nov 5

The memo reveals the corporation’s LGBT desk published a “a constant drip-feed of one-sided stories … celebrating the trans experience” while ignoring gender-critical stories.

Nov 6

Boris Johnson calls for Davie to “explain” or resign, saying the BBC had been “caught red-handed in multiple acts of Left-wing bias”. It also emerges BBC Verify, the broadcaster’s flagship fact-checking service, wrongly suggested car insurance companies were racist and was forced to take the story down. It also sent more push notifications about Russell Brand than the Channel migrant crisis over a month. 

Nov 7

The White House accuses the BBC of “purposeful dishonesty.” Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump’s press secretary, said British taxpayers were being “forced to foot the bill for a Leftist propaganda machine”, but stopped short of calling for the licence fee to be abolished. 

Nov 8

This newspaper reveals the BBC will apologise for doctoring Trump’s speech. Samir Shah, the BBC’s chairman, said he would write to the culture, media and sport committee on Monday to express regret for the way the speech was spliced together.

Nov 9

Davie announces his resignation as BBC director general while Deborah Turness, the broadcaster’s CEO of News, also announces she will step down.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously told The Telegraph: “This purposefully dishonestly, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100 per cent fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom.”

Sir Ed Davey has warned that the White House’s jibe at the BBC should “worry us all”.

Responding to the White House jibe on X, the Lib Dem leader wrote: “I had my disagreements with the BBC under Tim Davie but he was a decent man doing a difficult job.

“To see Trump’s White House claiming credit for his downfall and attacking the BBC should worry us all.”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has called for an independent inquiry into potential bias at the BBC.

In a statement, the charity accused the public service broadcaster of feeding the licence fee payer a diet of Hamas propaganda.

Kemi Badenoch has warned that two resignations will not resolve institutional bias at the BBC.

The Tory leader said: “It’s right that Tim Davie and Deborah Turness have finally taken responsibility and resigned from the BBC.

“But let’s be honest, this has been a catalogue of serious failures that runs far deeper. The Prescott report exposed institutional bias that cannot be swept away with two resignations – strong action must be taken on all the issues it raised.

“The culture at the BBC has not yet changed.”

The Tory leader said BBC Arabic must be brought under control and the BBC’s US and Middle East coverage needed a full overhaul.

The Telegraph revealed on Sunday that the BBC Arabic has been forced to correct two stories a week about the Gaza conflict since the Oct 7 attacks.

Mrs Badenoch added: “On basic matters of biology, the corporation can no longer allow its output to be shaped by a cabal of ideological activists.

“The new leadership must now deliver genuine reform of the culture of the BBC, top to bottom – because it should not expect the public to keep funding it through a compulsory licence fee unless it can finally demonstrate true impartiality.”

Nigel Farage has said the BBC must overhaul its culture or risk a rebellion over the licence fee.

The Reform UK leader said: “Davie and Turness going must be the start of wholesale change.

“The Government need to appoint somebody with a record of coming in and turning companies and their cultures around. Preferably it would be someone coming in from the private sector who has run a forward-facing business and understands PR.

“This is the BBC’s last chance. If they don’t get this right, there will be vast numbers of people refusing to pay the licence fee.”

Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, emphasised the need for “trusted and high-quality” reporting amid a rise in misinformation.

Reacting to the resignations, she said: “The BBC is one of our most important national institutions. Every day, it tells the story of who we are – the people, places and communities that make up life across the UK.

“Now more than ever, the need for trusted news and high-quality programming is essential to our democratic and cultural life, and our place in the world.”

Ms Nandy added: “As a Government, we will support the Board as it manages this transition and we will ensure that the Charter Review is the catalyst that helps the BBC to adapt to this new era and secures its role at the heart of national life for decades to come.”

BBC chair Samir Shah is expected to write to the culture, media and sport committee on Monday to express regret over the doctoring of Mr Trump’s speech.