MPs prepare to quiz BBC board over competence and conflict of interest

After the resignation from the governing body of 'the guy who most took on' Robbie Gibb, a select committee will tomorrow seek clarity on the political appointee's agenda, writes Ceri Thomas

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The travelling show that is the BBC in crisis will take the stage tomorrow before the culture, media and sport select committee in parliament. MPs have called three members of the BBC board to give evidence, including its chair, Samir Shah, and Sir Robbie Gibb, one of its political appointees.

Formally, they will be addressing a bland question about processes and guidelines but behind that lurk the real issues, bigger and livelier. How well has the BBC board protected the corporation from political interference? How significant an overhaul does the board need to be part of the solution to the difficulties, rather than a cornerstone of the problem? And can either Shah or Gibb survive the reforms that are needed?

To recap: the resignations of the BBC director general, Tim Davie, and the chief executive of its news division, Deborah Turness, were prompted by an edit in a Panorama programme of Donald Trump's speech on 6 January 2021. The problem was spotted by an internal review commissioned by Gibb. Gibb was appointed to the BBC board by Boris Johnson and had been seen as a single-issue campaigner, obsessed by BBC bias. When extracts of several reviews sponsored mostly by Gibb - covering not just the Panorama edit but also Gaza, Israel and "culture war" issues - was leaked to the press, it raised suspicions of a political stitch-up.