Tim Davie told staff today that the BBC has "a very strong case" for the renewal of its Royal Charter in 2027.

The charter, drawn up by the government, sets out the terms and purposes of the BBC's existence and normally lasts for about a decade - the current charter runs from January 2017 until the end of 2027.

So the question of its renewal - and the details within it - have been widely debated.

A lot of attention has been drawn towards potential changes to the licence fee.

The corporation currently gets most of its income from the licence fee, which costs £174.50 a year - the cost of which increases in line with inflation each year until 2027, following an agreement made in 2022.

But there's been increasing uncertainty as to whether it's the most sustainable funding model for the BBC, and late last year the government said it will examine the issue of BBC funding as part of the charter review process.

That's not the only thing however - with the charter outlining the BBC's governance, regulation, and broad objectives.

The most recent renewal, for example, established a Board and made highly-paid staff salaries public in attempt to be more transparent.

Image source, Reuters

Two days after his shock resignation, departing director general Tim Davie has told staff he is "fiercely proud" of the BBC, and that the organisation must "fight for our journalism".

In a company-wide call – his first since abruptly resigning – he said the editing of a Trump speech for a Panorama documentary was a "mistake" but launched a broad defence of the BBC and the role of public broadcasting in a polarised world.

He also paid tribute to the BBC’s outgoing head of news, Deborah Turness, who resigned alongside him on Sunday.

"These are difficult times for the BBC, but we’ll get through it," Davie said.

It comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn (roughly £760m) if it does not apologise and "appropriately compensate" him by Friday.

BBC chair Samir Shah apologised for the Panorama edit yesterday, but neither he nor Davie mentioned the Trump legal threat in the call with staff.

Our culture and media editor Katie Razzall points out that two US media companies have made payments to settle lawsuits with Trump. But a leading media lawyer says Trump's threatened $1bn figure was "totally meaningless".

The BBC has said it will reply to it in due course.

Downing Street has declined to comment on Donald Trump's threat to sue the BBC for $1bn (around £760m).

A spokesperson says: "This is a matter for the BBC."

Asked whether the government would help pay for any damages a court might award the US president, they say: "Obviously, that's a hypothetical question."

They add: "Our position is clear: The BBC is independent and it's for the corporation to respond to questions about their editorial decisions and, more broadly, we have a close relationship with the US on shared priorities, including security."

A spokesperson later said the prime minister hasn't spoken to Trump about the threatened legal action.

In terms of what happens next for the BBC, Tim Davie says the corporation needs to "steer the course" and get on with its work - and that includes himself.

"This is not a leaving speech," Davie told BBC staff in a call earlier this morning. He said he will remain as director general until an "orderly transition" is planned with the Board.

Meanwhile, following the resignation of head of news Deborah Turness, Davie said her deputy - Jonathan Munro - "will be in charge and, at the moment, is in charge editorially in the newsroom. I think everyone's clear about that."

"We need to get on with our business and do our work," he said.

"We need to look after each other, get through it, give everyone on the outside a clear message which is 'look, it's been difficult, two people have left, we move on.'"

Davie and Shah tried to strike a positive and resilient tonepublished at 12:18 GMT 11 November

12:18 GMT 11 November

Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter

Following a turbulent few days, director general Tim Davie and BBC chair Samir Shah tried to strike a resilient and positive tone as they addressed staff on Tuesday morning.

Davie acknowledged there had been an “editorial breach” and that “responsibility had to be taken”, but he was careful not to dwell too much on mistakes and get back to championing the BBC as a whole.

“Pride” was one of the director general’s most-used words as he discussed his love for the corporation and its output.

His language echoed what he said outside New Broadcasting House earlier, as he praised the “incredibly important work” journalists do and said the BBC is going to “thrive” in the future.

Shah and Davie did not directly address the threat of a lawsuit from Donald Trump – perhaps because the BBC is likely to be taking legal advice behind the scenes as it decides how to respond before the US president's Friday deadline.

This isn’t Davie’s first BBC scandal - he is used to seeing his name and face at the top of the news agenda and clearly understands that it comes with the territory.

But his desire to move the focus away from individual personalities and refocus the narrative on the BBC’s mission provides something of a blueprint for his successor.

If the BBC is to survive, bosses will need to work out how to better handle any future missteps, and get back to convincing the public of the corporation's importance and relevance as it prepares for the Charter renewal that will determine its future.

We can now bring you more detail from the call with outgoing director general Tim Davie, during which he - and chair Samir Shah - took questions from BBC staff.

• No timeline was set for Davie's departure or choosing his replacement - but Shah said the BBC Board was in "succession mode"
• Davie paid tribute to the outgoing head of news, Deborah Turness, who also resigned on Sunday. He said long-term arrangements for BBC News would be confirmed shortly
• He did not address directly Donald Trump's threat to sue the BBC, but acknowledged that political pressures on the corporation at home and abroad were "challenging"

• Reflecting on his time as director general, Davie said: "I wouldn't change a thing. I have no regrets"
• "These times are difficult for the BBC, but we’ll get through it," he added

Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Outgoing director general Tim Davie said the BBC must "fight" for its journalism following a "tough few days" in a 40-minute call with staff.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Davie admitted the BBC had made "some mistakes that have cost us", but added: "I think we’ve got to fight for our journalism"
• "I’m fiercely proud of this organisation," he told staff repeatedly and said BBC journalists were "doing a fantastic job"
• He gave three key reasons for his resignation - the relentlessness of the role, the upcoming Charter renewal and pressure following criticism of the Panorama documentary on Trump
• "We did make a mistake" regarding the editing of the Trump speech, he said, which a leaked memo written by an ex-BBC adviser said misled viewers

• On Charter renewal - due in 2027 - he said the BBC was in a really good position and had "a very strong case"
• "The government of the day are supportive of public institutions," he said, and insisted the BBC would survive his departure

Image source, Getty Images

The BBC needs to take "clearer, stronger action" and establish a "tougher Editorial Standards Committee," says former Tory culture secretary John Whittingdale.

He tells the BBC News Channel that the committee should bring in more outsiders, so it isn't "the BBC judging the BBC".

He says the responsibility for recent failings should lay with BBC management, not the Board.

Whittingdale also defends Robbie Gibb's position as a non-executive director on the BBC Board, after Scottish first minister John Swinney and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called for his resignation on Monday.

"He was doing his job, as a board member, raising concerns with the management of the BBC," Whittingdale says.

Image source, EPA

Over on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning, Nicky Campbell has been fielding callers' opinions on Trump's threat of legal action against the BBC. Here's a whip-round of what you told us:

"If we have to pay a penny to Trump, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pay my TV licence," says Simon from Truro. He thinks the BBC needs to "stand up" to Trump.

Larry, from Bristol, says Trump "covered all bases" in his letter threatening to sue the BBC for $1bn.

"I don't think the BBC has got any out in this other than [paying] the appropriate amount of compensation," he says.

Wayne, from Goole, says he understands that mistakes are made - and that "journalists are only human" - but insists somebody has to take responsibility.

Donald Trump's threat to sue the BBC for $1bn is "totally meaningless", says George Freeman, the executive director of the Media Law Resource Center in New York.

Freeman told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight that when he worked at the New York Times as assistant general counsel the paper wouldn't print the exact figures it was threatened with for this reason.

Trump is the only sitting president in US history to sue the media for libel and he does this "very, very often," Freeman adds.

Trump "has a long record of unsuccessful libel suits - and an even longer record of letters like the one you received that don't end up as lawsuits at all".

"They're just there to threaten and to scare media he doesn't like".

A lot of the focus this morning is on Donald Trump's threat to sue the BBC following criticism it misled viewers by editing a speech he made.

The accusation came from a leaked memo, written by former BBC adviser Michael Prescott and published in the Telegraph last week.

Though it has courted the most attention, the Panorama edit was just one of several "troubling matters" listed by Prescott. Here’s a summary of his main claims:

• "Anti-Trump" bias: Prescott says the BBC’s coverage of the 2024 US election was more critical of Donald Trump than of his opponent, Kamala Harris - including a misleading edit of a speech Trump delivered on 6 January 2021

• "Ill-researched" stories on racism: He says the BBC had published "ill-researched material that suggested issues of racism when there were none", including in a now-removed BBC Verify story about car insurance

• Too few push alerts on migration and asylum seekers: There was a "selection bias" against sending stories about migration and asylum seekers to BBC News app users as push notifications, Prescott says

• "One-sided" transgender coverage: He says the BBC had often published stories "celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity" and had ignored certain voices

• Anti-Israel bias in BBC Arabic: Several contributors to the BBC’s Arabic service selectively covered stories that were critical of Israel, Prescott writes

• Broader issues in Gaza coverage: His other criticisms include misrepresenting the percentage of Palestinian women and children who have been killed by Israel’s military, and misrepresenting the likelihood of children starving under Israel's aid blockade

The BBC response: Yesterday, chair Samir Shah accepted an "error of judgement" had been made on the Trump documentary, but added it was "simply not true" the corporation had done nothing to tackle problems.

"This is a pretty disastrous situation," Richard Tait - a former governor on the BBC board and the ex-chair of its Editorial Standards Committee - tells BBC Radio 5 Live.

"You've lost your two most senior and experienced executives" and now the US president has the BBC "firmly within his sights".

"[Trump has] been able to get significant financial settlements out of a number of really respected and powerful news organisations in America, and he's now heading for us," he adds.

Tait accuses British politicians of being "part of the problem". The BBC has been subject to "relentless attacks" from the Tories and Reform UK, which have "helped undermine public trust".

However "irritated you get about some things it [the BBC] does," Tait says, "broadly it is a really good thing to have a publicly funded broadcaster dedicated to accurate and impartial news".

"The BBC is going to be thriving and I support everyone on the team," Davie adds.

He walks away from the crowd of journalists as they shout questions about the legal action threatened by US President Donald Trump.

Davie does not answer and heads inside.

"I'm here to lead and support the BBC," Davie says. "I'm very, very proud of our journalists in this building."

"I want to thank every one of them. They're doing a wonderful job."

Davie says he's "proud" of the BBC's team of journalists as he walks towards the entrance to New Broadcasting House.

Image source, Reuters

We've just seen outgoing BBC director general Tim Davie arrive at New Broadcasting House in central London.

A pack of journalists are asking him questions - we'll update you on anything he says imminently.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump sees his previous success in taking legal action against media giants as "legitimising his claims that there’s fake news - that the news is out to get him”, says his long-term ally, Chris Ruddy.

Ruddy - head of conservative US media organisation Newsmax - tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme Trump "may very well sue the BBC because he’s had a winning record”.

He says the BBC would likely win if it did decide to fight the case because the state of Florida - where Trump filed his threat to sue - has strong libel laws "that defend media companies and free speech".

Image source, EPA

Two days have passed since the BBC's director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness resigned.

Pressure had been mounting on the corporation's senior leadership since the publication of a leaked memo last week, written by ex-BBC adviser Michael Prescott.

Among a series of claims, Prescott accused Panorama of airing a misleading edit of a speech made by Donald Trump on 6 January 2021.

On Monday, BBC chair Samir Shah apologised for Panorama's "error of judgement", saying splicing parts of the speech together "did give the impression of a direct call for violent action".

Soon after, US President Donald Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn - giving them until Friday to apologise and "appropriately compensate" him.

The BBC has said it will respond in due course.

As we've been reporting, Davie is holding a staff call later this morning. On Sunday, he said "some mistakes had been made" and that he had to take "ultimate responsibility".

Yesterday, Turness told journalists on her way into New Broadcasting House - the BBC's London headquarters - the "buck stops with me", but insisted that the BBC was "not institutionally biased".

Stay with us for rolling updates, reaction and analysis.

Image source, PA Media

Outgoing BBC director general Tim Davie is holding an all-staff call this morning. It will be the first time he's spoken publicly since stepping down two days ago, alongside head of news Deborah Turness.

He announced his resignation in an email to all BBC staff at 18:00 GMT on Sunday.

"Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable," it read.

"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."

When Davie will actually leave his job is unclear. He said he was working through the exact timings "to allow for an orderly transition to a successor over the coming months".

• Read Tim Davie's resignation email in full

Trump has successfully taken on media giants beforepublished at 07:53 GMT 11 November

07:53 GMT 11 November

Katie Razzall
Culture and media editor

A US president threatening to sue the BBC for $1bn is completely new territory for the corporation.

But we've seen a succession of US media operations cave in as Donald Trump launched lawsuits.

Paramount Global paid him $16m to settle a dispute over an interview broadcast on CBS with former vice-president Kamala Harris.

And ABC News paid him $15m to settle a defamation lawsuit after its anchor falsely claimed he had been found "liable for rape".

Now the president has the BBC in his sights. He wants a full retraction of the Panorama documentary, an apology for the "false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading and inflammatory statements" made about him in it, and appropriate compensation "for the harm caused".

If he doesn't get them by Friday, he's put the BBC "on notice" that he will be looking for damages of "no less than $1,000,000,000".

Whether you are a supporter or a detractor of the BBC, I think everyone would agree these are incredibly testing times for the corporation.

• Read Katie's full analysis here