Image source, Getty Images

The resignation of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness comes after the The Telegraph published details, external of a leaked internal BBC memo suggesting Panorama edited a Donald Trump speech together so he appeared to explicitly encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.

The leaked memo came from Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the broadcaster's editorial standards committee. He left the role in June.

Prescott raised concerns over the Panorama documentary Trump: A Second Chance? - which was broadcast last year and made for the BBC by independent production company October Films Ltd.

In his speech in Washington DC on 6 January 2021, Trump said: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women."

However, in the Panorama edit he was shown saying: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol... and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell."

The two sections of the speech that were edited together were more than 50 minutes apart.

The "fight like hell" comment was taken from a section where Trump discussed how "corrupt" US elections were. In total, he used the words "fight" or "fighting" 20 times in the speech.

Image source, Getty Images

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says it's right that Davie and Turness have resigned, but adds there 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," she writes on X, adding: "BBC Arabic must be brought under urgent control. The BBC’s US and Middle East coverage needs a full overhaul."

Badenoch ends by saying that the new leadership will have to deliver "genuine reform of the culture of the BBC", adding: "It should not expect the public to keep funding it through a compulsory licence fee unless it can finally demonstrate true impartiality."

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

The director general is the BBC's editorial, operational and creative leader, responsible for its global workforce running services across television, radio and online.

They are appointed by the BBC Board, which is responsible for ensuring it delivers the corporation's mission and public purposes.

The BBC Board is led by chair Samir Shah and, including him, there are 10 non-executive members, plus four executive members, including the director general.

When Tim Davie was appointed in 2020, the process for choosing who would get the role was led by the BBC Board’s nominations committee.

The director general's appointment is made under the terms of the BBC’s Charter, which is the constitutional basis for the BBC. Drawn up by the government, it sets out the terms and purposes of the BBC's existence and normally lasts for about a decade.

BBC Director General Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness have resigned following criticism that a Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by US President Donald Trump.

It comes after The Telegraph published details, external of a leaked internal BBC memo suggesting the programme edited two parts of Trump's speech together so he appeared to explicitly encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.

In a statement, Davie said: "Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director general I have to take ultimate responsibility".

Turness said that "the ongoing controversy" around Panorama documentary "has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC". She added that "the buck stops with me".

Davie's departure after five years as boss follows other separate BBC controversies in recent months, including of Glastonbury coverage. He and Turness had already been under pressure over a range of issues, including the Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary, where the BBC failed to disclose that the narrator was the son of a Hamas official.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has welcomed Davie's resignation and thanked him for his leadership of the BBC through a period of "significant change".

There is no information yet on when a new director general will be appointed.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has posted two words on X in response to Tim Davie and Deborah Turness resigning.

She posts two screenshots of news articles side by side, external: above the first she writes "shot" over a Telegraph article with the headline: "Trump goes to war with 'fake news' BBC".

"Chaser" she writes above the second - a BBC News article announcing Tim Davie's resignation.

Earlier this week, Leavitt called the BBC "100% fake news" in response to a Panorama documentary which misled viewers by editing a speech by US President Donald Trump.

Image source, Getty Images

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says Tim Davie and Deborah Turness resigning from the BBC must be "the start of wholesale change".

He says the government need to appoint somebody with "a record of coming in and turning companies and their cultures around".

"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," Farage adds.

Image source, PA Media

Turning to some more political reaction, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey says: "The BBC isn’t perfect, but it remains one of the few institutions standing between our British values and a populist, Trump-style takeover of our politics."

He says the resignation of Davie and Turness "must be an opportunity for the BBC to turn a new leaf".

"As a public service broadcaster, the BBC’s role is vital in ensuring our democracy is based on facts, scrutiny, and accountability," he says.

'Teflon Tim' survived many scandals, but not thispublished at 18:50 GMT

18:50 GMT

Ian Youngs
Culture reporter

Image source, PA Media

Tim Davie has weathered many scandals and crises during his five years at the helm of the BBC - including the Gary Lineker furore, Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, the Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary, and the transgressions of a string of high-profile presenters.

He was nicknamed "Teflon Tim" because nothing seemed to stick. He remained relaxed, in public at least, about these storms coming with the territory of being BBC director general.

He tried to ride out the latest controversy, too, but it has gathered steam, and the BBC was expected to issue an apology tomorrow for mistakes that have come to light in the past week about Panorama's editing of a Donald Trump speech, among other issues.

It obviously became apparent that his position - as well as that of CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness - had become untenable.

This comes at a sensitive time for the BBC, with the government set to review the corporation's royal charter - which essentially gives it the right to exist - before the current term expires in 2027.

As well as carrying the can as editor-in-chief for the latest revelations, he may have decided that the BBC would be better off being led into that phase by someone not associated with this, and other, failings.

Deborah Turness has been the CEO of BBC News since 2022, overseeing BBC News and Current Affairs programming.

In her role, she had responsibility for a team of around 6,000 people, broadcasting to almost half a billion people across the world in more than 40 languages.

She was previously CEO of ITN, and had led the organisation's post-Covid strategy for growth.

Prior to working at the BBC and ITN, she was president of NBC News from 2013 until 2017, and later president of NBC News International.

Before her stint at NBC, Deborah was editor of ITV News where she was their first female editor and the youngest ever editor of ITV News.

Image source, PA Media

Tim Davie became the director general of the BBC in September 2020.

He was the 17th person tasked with overseeing the corporation’s services as its editorial, operational and creative leader.

He was not a new figure to the BBC; prior to becoming director general Davie was chief executive of BBC Studios for seven years.

He oversaw the merger of BBC Worldwide, the distribution company, and the corporation’s production arm.

He was also acting director general of the BBC between November 2012 and April 2013. He is stepping down after 20 years with the corporation.

Before joining the BBC, Davie worked for organisations such as Procter and Gamble, and PepsiCo.

In 2018, he was appointed CBE for his services to international trade.

Pressure had been building for dayspublished at 18:40 GMT

18:40 GMT

Noor Nanji
Culture reporter

The BBC will very much be hoping that these resignations take the pressure out of this situation.

It had been building for days, ever since a Telegraph report on Tuesday first suggested there had been an editing of a Panorama documentary in a misleading way.

It felt like it was just not going away.

What was interesting is that we heard from Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy earlier saying she had full confidence in the director-general and chair of the BBC.

She said she fully backed them and was confident in the way they were handling this situation.

In that sense it does seem like quite a dramatic turn of events, considering where we were just a couple of hours ago.

Image source, PA Media

Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, thanks Tim Davie "for his service to public broadcasting over many years".

"He has led the BBC through a period of significant change and helped the organisation to grip the challenges it has faced in recent years," she writes in a statement on X.

"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.

"As a government, we will support the Board as it manages this transition and 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."

We're now hearing from Deborah Turness, who has resigned as CEO of BBC News.

She says she has "taken the difficult decision that it will no longer be my role to lead you in the collective vision that we all have: to pursue the truth with no agenda".

She adds that "the ongoing controversy around the Panorama on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love".

"The buck stops with me," she says, adding that she offered her resignation to Tim Davie on Saturday.

"While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong," she adds.

• Read Turness and Davie's resignation statements in full here

The resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness come after a newspaper report suggested that a BBC Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by US President Donald Trump.

The Telegraph published details, external of a leaked internal BBC memo suggesting the programme edited two parts of Trump's speech together so he appeared to explicitly encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.

The leaked memo came from Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the broadcaster's editorial standards committee. He left the role in June.

Prescott raised concerns over the documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, which was broadcast last year and made for the BBC by independent production company October Films Ltd, which was also approached for comment.

On Sunday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the Panorama issue was "very serious" - but there were a series of "very serious allegations" that had been made about the broadcaster, "the most serious of which is that there is systemic bias in the way that difficult issues are reported at the BBC".

We are now hearing from BBC Chair Samir Shah, who extends his sincere gratitude to both Tim Davie and Deborah Turness for their "unwavering service and commitment to the BBC".

"This is a sad day for the BBC," Shah says.

He says that he understands the "continued pressure on him, personally and professionally, which has led him to take this decision today".

"The whole Board respects the decision and the reasons for it."

Shah adds that Davie is a "devoted and inspirational" who has "achieved a great deal".

Image source, Reuters

We can now bring you some comments from Tim Davie following his resignation:

"I wanted to let you know that I have decided to leave the BBC after 20 years. This is entirely my decision, and I remain very thankful to the Chair and Board for their unswerving and unanimous support throughout my entire tenure, including during recent days.

"I am working through exact timings with the Board to allow for an orderly transition to a successor over the coming months.

"I have been reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times, combined with the fact that I want to give a successor time to help shape the Charter plans they will be delivering.

"In these increasingly polarised times, the BBC is of unique value and speaks to the very best of us. It helps make the UK a special place; overwhelmingly kind, tolerant and curious. Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable. While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision.

"Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as Director-General I have to take ultimate responsibility."

BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness resign following criticism that a BBC Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by US President Donald Trump.

We'll have more on this shortly.