Image source, Getty Images

The BBC is one of the "most treasured aspects of our democracy" says Thangam Debbonaire, a Labour peer and former shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport.

While "undoubtedly there are things to correct", she says, she tells the Today programme that she would like "everyone to be championing the BBC" right now.

In Debbonaire's view, the top priority should be "looking for ways that we reduce the amount of political influence" on the BBC.

This could be by examining how the charter renewal works, or "the way board appointments are made, so there is much more clear separation between politics and the BBC".

She says she would "like everybody to celebrate the BBC and ask questions - I think both of those things can be done at the same time".

Trump would have to show he suffered major loss from Panorama's editpublished at 07:23 GMT 11 November

07:23 GMT 11 November

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

Donald Trump’s lawyers are threatening to sue in Florida - meaning they will have to show the episode of Panorama was accessible there.

The state allows an aggrieved party up to two years to bring a case, external.

Given the episode of Panorama was broadcast in the UK in October 2024, if the president had tried to sue in London, the general requirement to launch a case within a year would have stood in his way.

Threatening to sue is not the same as having a case that will stick.

The president would have to show that he has suffered some major loss from the programme - and American law offers very strong free speech protections.

This is why defamation law is complex - it comes down to very fine judgements.

As we've been reporting, Donald Trump's attorney Alejandro Brito has sent a letter to the BBC, threatening a defamation lawsuit for damages of over $1bn (roughly £760m) if it doesn't:

1. Issue a "full and fair" retraction of the Panorama documentary - as well as any other "false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading and inflammatory statements" about the US president
2. Immediately apologise for the Panorama documentary
3. "Appropriately compensate" Trump for the harm caused

A deadline for response is set for 17:00 EST (22:00 GMT) on Friday 14 November.

Yesterday, BBC chair Samir Shah accepted that Panorama made an "error of judgement" by splicing together separate parts of Trump's speech. He said the BBC will reply to Trump's threat "in due course".

Image source, Howard Kennedy LLP via Press Association

The BBC should "hang tough" and refuse to be intimated by Donald Trump's $1bn legal threat, a media lawyer says.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mark Stephens accepts that refusing to settle the case could be expensive for the BBC - but suggests that Trump would ultimately struggle to justify a $1bn (around £760m) loss in court.

The US president was acquitted of an impeachment charge that he incited a mob to storm the US Capitol on 6 January.

But Stephens says if his lawsuit went to court, Trump's conduct would once again go under the microscope.

"Every damning quote that he's ever uttered is going to be played back to him and picked over - not great PR," Stephens says.

He continues: "Trump risks turning what’s currently a PR skirmish with the BBC very much on the back foot into a global headline that the court finds Trump’s words were incendiary."

As a result, Stephens says, it's "difficult to see how the claim stacks up either financially or legally".

Trump has given the BBC until Friday to apologise or "appropriately compensate" him - if not, he says, he will start a a claim for $1bn. We'll have more from that letter in our next post.

Image source, Reuters

The BBC's outgoing director general Tim Davie is due to hold an all-staff call later this morning, a day after Donald Trump threatened to sue the corporation for $1bn.

Davie's call will be broadcast internally to staff across the BBC, with employees expected to have the chance to ask questions.

Davie hasn't spoken publicly since his statement on Sunday evening, when he handed in his resignation.

Since then, the BBC chair Samir Shah has apologised for how Panorama edited a speech by Trump - and the US president has given the corporation a Friday deadline to apologise and "appropriately compensate" him.

Otherwise, his legal team says, he "will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights... including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages".

Image source, Reuters

The BBC is facing potential legal action from Donald Trump after a leaked memo highlighted issues with how a speech from the president was edited for a documentary broadcast before last year’s US election.

The memo, written by former BBC adviser Michael Prescott, pointed to the way the Panorama documentary had stitched together separate sections of Trump’s speech. The result gave the appearance that Trump had encouraged the Capitol Hill riots.

On Sunday evening, BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of news Deborah Turness handed in their resignations. BBC chair Samir Shah later acknowledged an "error of judgement" with the edit.

For the White House, though, more needs to be done - lawyers for Trump have demanded three actions: a retraction of the documentary, an apology, and compensation.

If the broadcaster does not comply, lawyers will proceed with legal action - seeking a sum of $1bn (£760m) in damages.

The issue is still developing, as we’ve yet to see the BBC comment on the legal threat. Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, will also hold an all-staff call tomorrow.

For today, we are closing our live coverage. Meanwhile, you can watch Samir Shah’s comments, read our culture and media editor’s take, or stay up to date with our news article.

Thank you for joining us today.

Image source, EPA

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has joined calls from the SNP to remove BBC board member Robbie Gibb.

Writing in the Guardian this evening, Davey says: "Not only was Gibb the director of communications for Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May, and editorial adviser at GB News before being appointed by Boris Johnson. He has also been accused of interfering with editorial decisions in a way that is totally unacceptable for a member of the board."

The Lib Dem leader says Gibb should have no role in appointing the new director general. "The government should remove him from the board immediately."

Gibb has been approached for comment.

• A source has told the BBC there was "relentless critique of BBC journalism" by board members, with Robbie Gibb singled out in particular - read more from our culture and media editor Katie Razzall

Image source, PA Media

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says there are "serious questions" for the BBC.

Badenoch says this is "not just about the doctoring of a Donald Trump documentary" but also about how the BBC has "continually covered other issues", especially those involving women and Jewish people, she adds.

"Those are the people I'm speaking out for... everyday people who watch the BBC and know that what they're watching is not true," she says.

However, Badenoch says the country "need to treasure" the BBC as well, and that starts with the BBC showing "humility".

The Tory leader urges the BBC to "look at its own mistakes, rather than have contempt and sneer at all the people who are pointing out those mistakes".

Tory peer Lord Patten, a former BBC Trust chairman between 2011 and 2014, has been sharing his experiences of crisis management as well as his thoughts on the situation the corporation is currently facing.

"I am very sorry about Tim Davie who I think is an outstanding director general," Lord Patten tells BBC Radio 4's PM programme following Davie's resignation. "He was a very good leader for the BBC at a difficult time I think it is sad he was put in this position but I think it was inevitable."

"I think it is a very tough job - whoever takes over needs a suit of armour and a lot of luck."

Lord Patten believes it would also be "terrible for our democracy to get into this flap all the time".

He adds: "We owe a great deal to the BBC, it is not perfect. No human institution is at all but it is certainly the best broadcaster in the world."

Lord Patten also spoke to the BBC News Channel, which you can watch in the clip below:

David Elstein, a former BBC executive producer who worked on Panorama before becoming Channel 5’s first chief executive, says current affairs programmes should stay within the BBC's control rather than being made by outside companies.

The one-hour programme, Trump: A Second Chance?, was made for the BBC by independent production company October Films Ltd.

"There’s lots of documentaries on their roster but very few current affairs programmes, and in current affairs you learn that you just can’t do that," he adds.

"My personal view is that current affairs absolutely needs to be under your internal control. I’m sure the BBC would have learned that lesson."

Image source, PA Media

The shadow culture secretary has called the BBC institutionally biased, urging it to undergo "a complete culture change”.

Conservative MP Nigel Huddleston says the editorial issues leading up to yesterday's resignations show a "whole series of consistent abuses of impartiality rules" at the BBC.

He says these show that "the BBC is out of touch and has a certain line to push which is embedded in the institution”.

He also says Trump "was the victim in some ways of editorial bias from the BBC".

"The vast majority of people, including myself and colleagues of mine in the Conservative Party, want the BBC to be successful," he says. "What we want to do is save it from itself, not destroy it."

The Liberal Democrats’ culture, media and sport spokesperson says the Lib Dems - although not "uncritically" - will “support the BBC at times where it is at risk”.

Anna Sabine says the corporation needs to “rebuild trust” and “turn over a new leaf”, speaking to Radio 5 Live earlier.

The Lib Dems wrote to Ofcom in September complaining of too much Reform coverage on the BBC. Sabine says since then “the BBC has been fairly responsive to that”.

On the subject of a new director general replacing Tim Davie, Sabine says the most important thing is that the person is recruited fairly, openly, and transparently in a "non-political process".

• How will the BBC choose Tim Davie's replacement?

Georgia Roberts
Political reporter

While criticism of the BBC is not in short supply in Westminster, many MPs are feeling very uncomfortable that the corporation may be coming under attack for political gain.

Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi is organising a letter to be sent to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and tells me: "I’m not BBC bashing – I want to protect it.

"With both the director general and the head of news gone and threats of legal action from President Trump, this is a significant moment for the organisation.

"It’s up to us as parliamentarians to stand up for a free press – the fourth pillar of democracy – and help preserve the BBC’s journalistic integrity at all costs."

Antoniazzi has asked colleagues to sign a letter to the government seeking clarification on two things: whether the BBC board prevented a swift apology going out for the Panorama Trump edit, and if so why, and also why Tim Davie felt the need to state the BBC shouldn't be "weaponised" in his resignation letter.

"This transparency is vital to allow the BBC to move on, and enable its news operation to continue its role providing fair, accurate, impartial news in a deeply polarised world, plagued by misinformation," she adds.

As we've been reporting, BBC chair Samir Shah has submitted a written statement to the parliamentary group responsible for scrutinising the work of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its associated public bodies - including the BBC.

In the letter, Shah apologises for an "error of judgement" over how a speech by Donald Trump was edited in the Panorama documentary.

The letter, addressed to Caroline Dinenage, who chairs the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, can be read in full here.

Here's the latest:

• The BBC could be facing a $1bn (£760m) lawsuit after lawyers for US President Donald Trump sent a letter to the orgnisation saying they would take legal action if it does not issue a "full and fair" retraction of a Panorama documentary
• Lawyers have also asked for an apology and compensation for the president
• The documentary, aired in October 2024, stitched together two different parts of Trump's speech made on 6 January and made it look like a single continuous section
• In Florida, where the letter says the suit would be filed, an aggrieved party has two years to bring a case - which would fit the timeline, our home and legal correspondent Dominic Casciani writes
• This follows the resignations last night of BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of news Deborah Turness after a leaked memo criticised the edits, among other aspects of the BBC's coverage
• BBC chair Samir Shah has since apologised for the "error of judgement" but said the organisation has taken measures to tackle the problems

We'll continue to bring you the latest developments and reaction as we get them.

Image source, PA Media

We haven't yet heard from departing director general Tim Davie today, but BBC staff have now been invited to an all-staff call with Davie tomorrow morning.

This comes after an email sent earlier by BBC News deputy CEO Jonathan Munro, who described the last 24 hours as a "particularly challenging" time for journalists at the organisation.

Following the departure of CEO of news Deborah Turness, Munro says he will now "have overall responsibility for editorial decisions for the moment".

Alongside Davie's all-staff call, Munro says he will also host a call for news staff tomorrow afternoon.

More now from the letter sent to the BBC from Donald Trump's legal team, which says that if the corporation does not retract the Panorama documentary, then litigation will follow.

"The BBC is on notice," the letter reads.

"PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY."

The lawyers call the edit of Trump's speech "false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory" and write that he has suffered "overwhelming financial and reputational harm".

As a reminder, BBC chair Samir Shah earlier apologised for the "error of judgement" over the documentary and said the BBC was considering how to respond to the US president.

We have now seen the letter Donald Trump's lawyers sent to the BBC and can bring you more details.

The letter sets out three demands, including:

• Immediately issue a full and fair retraction of the documentary and any and all other false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading, and inflammatory statements about President Trump in as conspicuous a manner as they were originally published
• Immediately issue an apology for the false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading, and inflammatory statements about President Trump
• Appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused

"If the BBC does not comply with the above by November 14, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST, President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages," the letter concludes.

We’ll bring you more shortly. Stay with us.

Trump reportedly threatening to sue in Florida - what does that mean?published at 16:37 GMT 10 November

16:37 GMT 10 November

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

According to US media reports, Trump’s lawyers are threatening to sue in Florida - meaning they will have to show the episode of Panorama was accessible there.

The state allows an aggrieved party up to two years to bring a case, external.

Given the episode of Panorama was broadcast in the UK in October 2024, if the president had tried to sue in London, the general requirement to launch a case within a year would have stood in his way.

Threatening to sue is not the same as having a case that will stick.

The president would have to show that he has suffered some major loss from the programme - and American law offers very strong free speech protections.

This is why defamation law is complex - it comes down to very fine judgements.

Image source, EPA

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says he spoke to Trump on Friday about the Panorama documentary.

"He just said to me: 'Is this how you treat your best ally?'" Farage says.

Speaking at a news conference, Farage says "the BBC has been institutionally biased for decades". He says he does think the BBC is important, but adds that it "should get back to doing news".

Farage calls for a slimmed-down BBC focused on entertainment and sport, using a "subscription model".

"That's the modern world that we live in," he says.