It's a dangerous moment - the BBC must retain public trust so it can hold off political attacks

There is a joke regularly deployed by BBC staff that “deputy heads must roll” over major mistakes that rarely appear to have any impact on those at the top of the organisation. That all changed yesterday, when Tim Davie and Deborah Turness quit their jobs.

- Pippa Crerar

Davie oversaw no shortage of scandal during his five years as director general - in recent months these included rows over a Gaza documentary and Glastonbury coverage - and was nicknamed “Teflon Tim” by BBC insiders because nothing seemed to stick.

But last week, it did.

Odd, though, that the trigger for this crisis was a largely forgotten report by the Panorama programme, broadcast more than a year ago, about the US election.

The Daily Telegraph, never a friend to the BBC, was leaked a report by Michael Prescott, a former adviser to the BBC committee overseeing editorial standards. It suggested Panorama had edited a Donald Trump speech so it looked as if he had explicitly encouraged the 2021 Capitol riots.

Prescott accused the corporation of “serious and systemic” bias in its editorial coverage. Perhaps predictably, parts of the right immediately leapt on the report.

Boris Johnson told the Telegraph Davie “must explain or resign”.