We begin with questions from Conversative MP Caroline Dinenage, the chair of the committe.

She begins by providing background to the leaked memo written by Michael Prescott and published in the Telegraph. We summarised the main claims here.

Prescott says there was no ideology at play in the concerns he raised. "I don't want the BBC leaning this way or that way, I just want it straight, impartial and fair," he says.

Asked if he thinks the BBC is institutionally biased, Precott replies: "No I don't. Let's be clear, tons of stuff the BBC does is world class - both factual and non-factual programming."

But he adds: "There is real work that needs to be done at the BBC."

The second former external BBC adviser questioned by the panel, Caroline Daniel, says she takes the BBC very seriously and that it has a "continuous process and active debate" across dynamic and complex issues.

"Was the BBC willing to have a proper conversation and debate and take action?" she asks herself. "In my view, yes they were."

Image source, House of Commons

We're now hearing from Michael Prescott, who wrote the leaked memo.

He is a former journalist who spent 10 years at the Sunday Times - first as chief political correspondent and then as political editor.

After leaving journalism, he became a corporate adviser and is now managing director at PR firm Hanover Communications.

Prescott’s memo was written after he stood down as one of two independent external advisers to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee. He left this summer after three years in the role.

Box office or let down? It's down to the questionspublished at 15:33 GMT

15:33 GMT

Katie Razzall
Media editor

This committee should be box office.

But, if previous evidence is anything to go by, it also has the potential to be a total let down.

There are so many questions that need answering. Most pressingly:

• Did the BBC try to cover up mistakes instead of admitting them?
• Why did it take so long to apologise for the Panorama edit?
• Is the BBC systemically biased and is there a split inside the Board - or even evidence of a coup as some have claimed?

But the most pertinent question might also be whether the MPs will succeed in asking the right questions to get to the truth.

We’ll hear first from Michael Prescott, the former external adviser to the BBC whose leaked memo with its claims of systemic bias kicked off the whole controversy. He hasn’t spoken publicly up to now.

We need to know whether his concerns were really ignored - and whether he is right about the BBC. Also whether he has an agenda, which he’s denied.

He’ll be sitting next to Caroline Daniel, who was the other external advisor on the committee that ensures editorial standards are adhered to. She sat in the same meetings.

It will be interesting to see if she agrees with Prescott or takes a different view. She didn’t, to our knowledge, write a memo complaining about systemic problems at the BBC.

• Stay on this page for updates on the key lines. Tap watch live above to follow along

The session of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee begins.

Need a primer? Here's who's asking the questions and who's answering them.

Stay with us for updates and analysis on the key lines. To follow along, tap the watch live button at the top of the page.

Michael Prescott, the former external adviser to the BBC and the author of the leaked memo, has arrived at Portcullis House, where he'll shotly take questions from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

Asked if he regrets writing the memo, he says he's glad he has the opportunity to speak.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Richard Townshend

We've just taken you through who'll be answering the questions.

Now for a look at who'll be asking them: the 11 MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which includes...

Seven for Labour

• Bayo Alaba, MP for Southend East and Rochford
• Vicky Foxcroft, MP for Lewisham North
• Jo Platt, MP for Leigh and Atherton
• Jeff Smith, MP for Manchester Withington
• Rupa Huq, MP for Ealing Central and Acton
• Natasha Irons, MP for Croydon East
• Anneliese Midgley, MP for Knowsley

Two Tories

• Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport and the committee chair
• Damian Hinds, MP for East Hampshire

And two Lib Dems

• Liz Jarvis, MP for Eastleigh

• Cameron Thomas, MP for Tewkesbury

The committee hearing will be split into two separate sessions today.

From 15:30, we’ll hear from two former independent external advisers to the BBC’s editorial standards committee (both of whom have left their roles):

• Michael Prescott, the author of a leaked memo, in which he suggested the corporation misled viewers by editing a speech by Donald Trump
• And Caroline Daniel, a former assistant editor at the Financial Times

From 16:30, it will be the turn of three BBC Board members:

• Chair Samir Shah. Following the resignations of two BBC bosses and Trump’s threat to sue the corportation, Shah apologised to the US president, but refused to pay compensation
• Robbie Gibb, the non-executive director for England. Prior to being appointed by ex-PM Boris Johson in 2021, he was Theresa May’s communications director and earlier held several roles within BBC News
• Caroline Thomson was made senior independent director earlier this year, having previously been the corporation’s chief operating officer from 2006-12

Image source, Reuters

28 October 2024 Ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, BBC Panorama airs a programme titled Trump: A Second Chance? It includes footage of a speech made by Donald Trump on 6 January 2021. The BBC says it received "no significant audience feedback" after the broadcast

3 November 2025 The Telegraph newspaper publishes a report on a leaked BBC memo written by a former independent external adviser to its editorial standards committee, Michael Prescott. It suggests Panorama spliced together parts of the speech, which made it appear as if Trump encouraged the 6 January riot

9 November BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness suddenly resign from the organisation

10 November Trump threatens legal action against the BBC. His lawyers give the corporation a deadline of 14 November to make a "full and fair retraction" of the documentary - or face being sued for $1bn (£760m). They also demand an apology and compensation

13 November A day before the deadline, the BBC apologises to Trump, but rejects his demands for compensation

15 November Undeterred by the apology, Trump doubles down on his threat to sue, telling reporters the figure would be "anywhere between $1bn [£759m] and $5bn"

Image source, EPA

On 13 November, the BBC apologised to US President Donald Trump for a Panorama episode that spliced parts of his 6 January 2021 speech together - but rejected his demands for compensation.

Here's the full statement:

“Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday.

“BBC Chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the Corporation are sorry for the edit of the President’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme.

“The BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ on any BBC platforms.

“While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

A lot of the focus in the last few weeks has been on Donald Trump's threat to sue the BBC following criticism it misled viewers by editing a speech he made on 6 January 2021.

Concerns over the edit were raised in a leaked memo, written by former external BBC adviser Michael Prescott and published in the Telegraph earlier this month.

The Panorama edit was just one of several "troubling matters" listed by Prescott, however. Here’s a summary of his main claims:

• "Anti-Trump" bias: Prescott said 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 said 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 said

• "One-sided" transgender coverage: He said 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 wrote

• Broader issues in Gaza coverage: His other criticisms included 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 apologised to US President Donald Trump for a Panorama episode that spliced parts of his 6 January 2021 speech together, but rejected his demands for compensation.

Image source, PA Media

Key BBC figures are set to face MPs' questions following a row surrounding how the BBC edited a speech given by Donald Trump.

It follows a difficult few weeks for the corporation, which saw the resignations of its director general and head of news, and a threat of legal action from the US president.

Among those being questioned is Michael Prescott, a former external adviser and the author of a leaked memo that accused BBC Panorama of misleading viewers by editing together parts of Trump’s speech.

We’ll also hear from BBC Chair Samir Shah and non-executive director Robbie Gibb, among others - more on that later.

The session of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMS) is due to start at 15:30 GMT.

We’ll be providing updates and analysis on all the key lines. Follow along by tapping the watch live button.