BBC board member with links to Tories 'led the charge' over bias claims

The edit was one of the subjects of criticism raised in a memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC's editorial guidelines and standards committee. He left that role in the summer.

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After a week in which the BBC's leadership has been criticised by its own staff for failing to respond to Prescott's claims, the corporation's chair, Samir Shah, apologised yesterday for the Trump edit.

Shah blamed an "error of judgment" over the way the programme spliced together two parts of a speech by Trump made before the attack on the US Capitol in January 2021.

However, in his letter to the Commons culture, media and sport committee, Shah said Prescott's memo was a "partial" and "personal" account of BBC discussions and did not reflect a full picture of the internal discussions and decisions taken.

"It is not true to say that concerns have been ignored or action not taken," the letter adds.

In a sign of BBC journalists' view of their board's handling of the crisis, Turness received a round of applause from staff at an editorial meeting.

While BBC insiders accept the Prescott letter contains some failings, there is also concern that it has formed part of a political attack on the corporation from within.

Concerns centre on the relationship between Prescott and Gibb. Sources said Gibb, who has previously been accused of interfering in editorial matters, had "led the charge" at two BBC board meetings that discussed Prescott's memo. The most recent was last Thursday.