Shah says the Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC) accepts that there are "occasions when the BBC gets things wrong" or its reporting "requires more context and explanation".

This is the case in some of the examples highlighted by Prescott's memo, he says.

Shah cites a story about car insurance and the reporting of casualty figures in Gaza as two examples, among others.

Action was taken, ranging from "published corrections and clarifications", "new editorial guidance" and "disciplinary action" in some cases.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

I’ve just been at the daily Downing Street briefing for journalists - where we ask the PM’s spokesman questions.

There was a lot of discussion about the BBC and the resignations of the director general and CEO of news.

The spokesman said the prime minister does not believe the BBC is "institutionally biased".

He added: "It is important the BBC acts to maintain trust and corrects mistake quickly when they occur… for any public service broadcaster - accountability is vital."

No 10 also denied the BBC was "corrupt" - a word President Trump used to describe some journalists at the Corporation.

The spokesman said mistakes had been made and the director general and CEO of news had taken responsibility.

He argued it was vital licence fee payers could trust what they see - but also said it was "right that we continue to support the BBC", particularly in an age of disinformation.

No 10 has said a charter review will be launched in due course - looking at how the BBC can "prosper" with a "sustainable funding model".

In his letter, Shah also addresses concerns around BBC Arabic and long form journalism at the BBC. He says action has been taken in both areas.

He writes: "On top of the specific stories, EGSC also identified concerns about underlying problems — for example in the Arabic service or long form journalism. These two areas have been discussed at length at the EGSC and action has been taken to tackle this kind of problem.

"The BBC Arabic Team has been restructured, a new Arabic speaking Head of Editorial Quality and Standards has been appointed in the World Service, and a new social media research unit has been set up to verify those who appear on the service.

"In the UK, BBC News have appointed a new Executive Editor of Editorial Quality and Standards to oversee domestic News output. BBC News will imminently appoint a new Director of News Documentaries and Long Form Journalism who will oversee current affairs output."

More lines now from the letter sent by BBC Chair Samir Shah, addressed to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

He says the suggestion that the BBC "sought to bury" the issues highlighted by Prescott in his leaked memo is "simply not true", as is the suggestion that BBC did nothing to tackle the problems.

During the three years when Prescott was an adviser to the Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC), Shah says the BBC took the following steps:

• "Published corrections where we have got things wrong"
• "Changed editorial guidance to make the BBC's position on issues clearer"
• "Made changes to leadership where the problems point to underlying issues"
• "Carried out formal disciplinary measures"

Shah goes on to explain what the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board heard from BBC News on how the Panorama clip was edited.

This "was to convey the message of the speech made by President Trump so that Panorama's audience could better understand how it had been received by President Trump's supporters and what was happening on the ground at that time", he writes.

"This issue was considered and discussed as part of a wider review of the BBC's US Election coverage, commissioned by the Committee, rather than handled as a specific programme complaint, given it had not attracted significant audience feedback and had been transmitted before the US election, so the point wasn't pursued further at that time.

"The points raised in the review were relayed to the Panorama team, including the decision making on this edit. With hindsight, it would have been better to take more formal action."

Image source, PA Media

We can bring you more now from BBC chair Samir Shah, who has just apologised for an "error of judgement" over how a speech by Donald Trump was edited in a Panorama documentary.

He writes: "Since the publication of Mr Prescott's memo, this issue has led to over 500 complaints. These are now being dealt with in the normal way. It has also prompted further reflection by the BBC.

"The conclusion of that deliberation is that we accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgement."

BBC Chair Samir Shah says the editing of the Trump documentary was an "error of judgement".

We'll bring you more on this shortly.

We've been expecting BBC chair Samir Shah to give a written statement to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee - a parliamentary group responsible for scrutinising the work of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its associated public bodies - including the BBC.

That statement has just landed in our inboxes.

It's quite long, so it may take us some time to pick through the details.

We'll share the key lines as we go, so stay with us.

Image source, PA Media

As we've been reporting, BBC Chair Samir Shah is expected to apologise in a written statement to a parliamentary committee today.

Here's a bit more about Shah and his role.

• He was appointed BBC chair by the government for four years, from 4 March 2024 to 3 March 2028
• Before that, he worked in broadcasting for over 40 years - including running independent television and radio company Juniper, as well as serving as head of current affairs and political programmes at the BBC
• As chair, he protects the BBC's independence and makes sure it delivers on its missions

• Also on the Board under Shah are nine other non-executive directors, and four executive members including the BBC director general
• The chairman receives fees of £160,000 per year, with a time commitment for the job of at least three days per week

We can now bring you some fresh reaction from the National Union for Journalists (NUJ), which represents more than 30,000 members in media.

In a statement, NUJ general secretary Laura Davison says the next director general must be "politically independent" and able to face pressures, including "AI-supercharged fake news".

Davison adds that Davie's successor must "protect and advocate" for the BBC globally and domestically "as a valued public service broadcaster".

Image source, Reuters

With stories like this one - which directly involves senior executives - BBC News journalists treat the BBC in the same way as any other organisation the news service reports on.

And like with any other organisation, BBC News has to ask BBC management for responses and contact the BBC press office for official statements.

Occasionally BBC journalists approach senior managers for unplanned interviews, known as "doorsteps", such as the one we saw outside New Broadcasting House this morning.

Ian Youngs
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Despite their resignations yesterday, outgoing director general Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness are not expected to leave the BBC immediately.

No timescale for their departures or the appointments of their replacements has been confirmed.

Turness turned up for work this morning, saying she wanted to "go in and see my teams".

In a message to staff last night, she said she would "work with Tim to plan an orderly handover to ensure that my decision to step away causes the least disruption possible to the important work that you do".

In his resignation statement, Davie said: "I am working through exact timings with the Board to allow for an orderly transition to a successor over the coming months."

He added that the timing of his exit "allows a new DG to help shape the next charter".

There isn't huge amount of time for the BBC to get in shape. Its current royal charter expires in 2027 and the process of negotiating with the government to agree to a new one, which will include a deal over the future of the licence fee, is due to start soon.

The leaked memo that sparked last night’s resignations was not only critical of one edit in a Panorama documentary about Donald Trump.

In the full dossier, published by the Telegraph, former independent adviser Michael Prescott highlights several - in his words - "troubling matters".

Here’s a summary of the main claims written by Prescott in the memo:

• "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 has not yet responded directly to the publication of this memo, but outgoing CEO of News Deborah Turness has said this morning the organisation "is not institutionally biased".

Image source, Reuters

As we have been reporting, two senior figures at the top of the BBC resigned from their roles on Sunday evening.

Tim Davie is the BBC's outgoing director general - the most senior person in the organisation and its chief executive and editor-in-chief. He is responsible for the BBC's global workforce, running services across television, radio and online. Davie is the 17th person to occupy this role in the BBC's history.

Davie has worked at the corporation for 20 years. Before becoming director general, he was chief executive of BBC Studios for seven years.

Image source, Getty Images

Deborah Turness is the outgoing CEO of BBC News. She has occupied this role since 2022, overseeing news and current affairs programming.

She is responsible for a team of around 6,000, broadcasting to almost half a billion people across the world in more than 40 languages.

Turness has previously served as CEO of ITN, president of NBC News and NBC News International, and editor of ITV News.

At NBC, Turness was the first woman in US history to be president of a network news division. She was also the first female editor of ITV News, as well as the youngest ever editor of ITV News.

A former controller of BBC One says the resignation of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness makes today “a sad day for the BBC”.

Speaking to Nicky Campbell's 5 Live phone-in, Peter Fincham says “there’s many good things" that Davie has done as director general.

But, Fincham says the BBC suffers from a “bunker mentality” during crises, adding: “one of the BBC’s worst habits is to think it’ll be alright to play dead."

“This report came in May, and they didn’t do anything about it,” he adds.

• As a reminder, Deborah Turness and Davie resigned last night after the Telegraph published a leaked BBC memo which criticised BBC executives’ response to concerns about various elements of the broadcaster's output

Lucy Manning
Special correspondent

A large round of applause was heard in the BBC newsroom's management area after Deborah Turness spoke to her editorial leadership team and told them the organisation is not institutionally biased, and people had to carry on doing BBC journalism.

Image source, PA Media

We've just heard from departing CEO of News Deborah Turness who told reporters when she was making her way into the building this morning that the BBC is not "institutionally biased".

Before she arrived, media commentators had their say on her and Tim Davie's resignations:

• Dame Caroline Dinenage, who chairs the Culture, Media and Sport committee, says the resignations of Davie and Turness last night were "avoidable"
• But, she says Davie was "slow to react" on the issues raised in Michael Prescott's memo following a series of editorial crises over the summer
• Former Radio 4 boss Mark Damazer says Davie was an "outstanding director general" and says it is "absolutely wrong" to say the BBC is "systemically biased"
• Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily Telegraph - the paper which released Prescott's dossier - accuses the BBC of "the most extraordinary degree of systemic bias, particularly in BBC Arabic" in its coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict
• But ex-Sun editor David Yelland accuses the BBC Board of a "coup" against Turness and Davie, saying Davie's team had been "systematically undermined" for a long time
• Now, with Davie leaving, the BBC has been left "in chaos, rudderless and leaderless" according to former BBC News controller Sir Craig Oliver

Lucy Manning
Special correspondent

Deborah Turness arrived at the BBC this morning looking emotional and said:

"I would like to say it has been the privilege of my career to serve as the CEO of BBC News and to work with our brilliant team of journalists."

"I stepped down over the weekend because the buck stops with me. But I'd like to make one thing very clear, BBC News is not institutionally biased. That's why it's the world's most trusted news provider."

On President Trump's comments she says: "Of course our journalists aren't corrupt. Our journalists are hardworking people who strive for impartiality and I will stand by their journalism."

When asked why mistakes on Trump, antisemitism, and women’s rights weren’t dealt with she says, “I’m sure that story will emerge”.

BBC News CEO Deborah Turness - who resigned on Sunday - was just stopped by journalists outside the BBC's London headquarters.

"BBC News is not institutionally biased. That's why it is the most trusted news provider," she says.

More to follow.

From 09:00 GMT, Nicky Campbell will be fielding callers' questions over on BBC Radio 5 Live on the dual resignation of BBC bosses Tim Davie and Deborah Turness last night.

You can follow along live on BBC Sounds or by pressing watch live above.

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