BBC chair Samir Shah has written a detailed letter to MPs following controversy over the editing of a speech by Donald Trump.

Following a backlash, both BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness have both stepped down from their roles.

Mr Trump is also understood to have threatened the corporation with legal action over the editing together of two pieces of video from his speech on 6 January 2021 in the BBC’s flagship late-night news programme Panorama.

While the original programme received no complaints, Mr Shah confirmed in his letter that over 500 complaints had been received since a memo from former independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board, Michael Prescott, was leaked to The Daily Telegraph.

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In his memo, Mr Prescott detailed what he called “worrying systemic issues with the BBC’s coverage”, also discussing other coverage, including trans issues, and the war in Gaza.

Mr Prescott specifically mentioned Ms Turness and deputy director of BBC News, Jonathan Munro in his memo, calling them “defensive”.

An apology – by denial of a cover-up

In his four-page letter of response to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Mr Shah said following “deliberation”, the board “accept that the way Mr Trump’s speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action”, calling it an “error of judgement”.

He also noted that some coverage of the memo leak, implied a list of stories and issues had been “uncovered”, which the BBC had sought to “bury”.

Mr Shah said that interpretation was “simply not true” and urged for a “sense of perspective” to be maintained when considering the “thousands of hours of outstanding journalism” the BBC produces each year.

Changes in leadership

The BBC chair also said the view that the BBC “has done nothing to tackle these problems” is “simply not true”.

Mr Shah admitted there were occasions “when the BBC gets things wrong” or “reporting requires more context or explanation”.

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Raising the point that the information relied on by Mr Prescott for his memo was the very research commissioned by the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC), he said the memo “did not present a full picture of the discussions, decisions and actions that were taken”.

Mr Shah detailed changes in leadership across the BBC Arabic team, as well as changes in World Service and BBC News – all of which he said would help tackle the issues raised.

So what is being done?

At the end of the letter Mr Shah committed to three actions:

• “The board will commit to revisiting each and every item set out in Michael Prescott’s note and take further action where appropriate. We will be transparent about the conclusions we reach, and the actions taken.”

• “Where we have put in measures already, in response to the original EGSC research, we will repeat those internal reviews to check the changes made are making material improvements to the output.”

• “Where we have already accepted that items fall short of our editorial standards, we will ensure that amendments to the relevant online stories are made where this was deemed appropriate.”

Mr Shah concluded by saying the BBC would “champion impartiality”, which he said was “more necessary now than ever before”, calling it the “sacred job of the BBC”.

Nigel Farage has said he could not quote Donald Trump’s feelings on the BBC before the watershed following a phone call with him.

The Reform UK leader revealed he had a phone call with the US president on Friday in which Mr Trump said “is this how you treat your best ally?”

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BBC director-general Tim Davie and the chief executive of BBC News, Deborah Turness, announced they had resigned on Sunday evening over questions about bias after a BBC Panorama special spliced Mr Trump’s 6 January 2021 speech so it appeared he had encouraged supporters to storm Capitol Hill.

In a post on his Truth Social social media platform after their resignations, Mr Trump accused Mr Davie and the “top people in the BBC” of being “very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a presidential election”.

Mr Trump’s lawyers have demanded the BBC retracts the “false” statements about him in the documentary or face legal action for $1bn (£760m) in damages.

Mr Farage told Sky News that people should “put yourself in Trump’s shoes” as he questioned how they would feel if they were the person making sure the UK had security guarantees, and you had been “stitched up on the eve of a national election”.

“What the BBC did was election interference,” Mr Farage said.

“If you put yourself into Trump’s shoes, he made his feelings to me in no uncertain terms – in no unquotable terms.”

He said he could not reveal what words Mr Trump used “before the watershed”, adding the president was “very, very unhappy”.

The Reform leader said the BBC has been “institutionally biased for decades” – just moments after Ms Turness arrived at the BBC’s central London headquarters and admitted “mistakes are made” but said there is “no institutional bias”.

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Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has echoed Mr Farage’s assertions, saying that she too believed the BBC was “institutionally biased”.

She told reporters on Monday: “I think this isn’t just about the latest doctoring of a documentary about Donald Trump. It’s about the way the BBC has continually covered issues of sex and gender.

“A lot of women out there believe that the BBC is institutionally biased against them. A lot of Jewish people believe that the BBC is institutionally biased against them, and so those are the people that I’m speaking out for.”

Ms Badenoch went on to say that the “complaining” about Mr Trump’s reaction was a “distraction”.

“I believe that the BBC is an institution that we need to treasure in our country, but the only way that we will be able to look after this institution is if it starts to have a little bit of humility and look at its own mistakes rather than have contempt and sneer at all of the people who are pointing out those mistakes,” she continued.

She added: “We need to remember it is paid for by license fee payers. If the BBC is sued by President Trump or anyone else, it is license fee payers who actually pay that cost. So we need to start by looking after them first.”

BBC chair Samir Shah sent a letter to parliament’s culture, media and sport committee on Monday accepting the way Mr Trump’s speech was edited “did give the impression of a direct call for violent action” and apologised “for that error of judgement”.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has urged Mr Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer to condemn Mr Trump’s attack on the BBC, calling it a “serious threat to our national interest”.

In an open letter to the three leaders, he said: “It should not be up to foreign powers to dictate where the British people get their news from.

“We must stand united to defend our democracy from foreign interference like this – even when it comes from a crucial ally.”

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Earlier, the chair of the culture, media and sport committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage, told Mornings with Ridge and Frost it is “really regrettable” Mr Davie had to step down but she thought “he was right to do so”.

Dame Caroline said the BBC was “very slow to react” to a leaked report by Michael Prescott, an independent adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards board.

The dossier, sent to the BBC board and leaked to The Daily Telegraph, accused the Panorama special on Donald Trump, released a week before the 2024 US election, of being “neither balanced nor impartial – it seemed to be taking a distinctly anti-Trump stance”.

Mr Prescott also raised bias concerns about the BBC’s coverage of trans issues and the war in Gaza.

Dame Caroline accused the BBC of failing to take his report seriously “until it was too late”.

She said the situation “has to influence the BBC charter decisions”.

The BBC’s Royal Charter outlines the corporation’s mission, public purposes and governance, along with specific obligations and how it is funded.

It is up for renewal in 2027, with the government currently carrying out a review to determine the BBC’s future, including its funding model and mission.

Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn over edits the organisation made last year to one of his speeches.

The organisation has been engulfed in a crisis, forced to apologise on Monday after two of its most senior figures, including the director-general, resigned on Sunday night.

The defamation claim centres around a BBC Panorama documentary, which aired October 2024 and showed an edited speech made by Mr Trump before the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, in which he appeared to tell his supporters he was going to walk with them to the US Capitol and “fight like hell”.

In a letter dated 9 November, Florida-based lawyer Alejandro Brito set the BBC a deadline of 10pm UK time on Friday to respond, outlining three demands:

• Issue a “full and fair retraction” of the documentary
• Apologise immediately
• “Appropriately compensate” the US president

He told the BBC it needed to “comply” or face being sued for $1bn.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We will review the letter and respond directly in due course.”

‘Error of judgement’

On Monday, BBC chairman Samir Shah, one of the most senior figures still standing, apologised for the “error of judgement” in editing the video.

In a letter to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of MPs, Mr Shah said Mr Trump’s speech was edited in a way that gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action”.

“The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgement,” he added.

Director-general and head of BBC News resign

Concerns about the edited speech first came to light in a leaked memo from Michael Prescott, a former journalist and independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board.

As a result, BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief Deborah Turness announced their resignations on Sunday evening, saying in emails to staff that mistakes had been made.

Mr Davie will address an all-staff meeting on Tuesday. While on her way into the Broadcasting House on Monday morning, Ms Turness defended the corporation, rejecting accusations of institutional bias.

Downing St stands by BBC – but chancellor says ‘lessons to be learned’

A spokesperson for the prime minister told reporters on Monday that the BBC wasn’t corrupt or institutionally biased.

Instead, they said it had a “vital role” to play in the modern age, but needed to ensure it acted “to maintain trust and correct mistakes quickly when they occur”.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves also stood by the corporation, but said that “lessons do need to be learned”.

‘Nothing but an apology’

Veteran broadcaster and former BBC presenter Jonathan Dimbleby told Sky News, however, that the organisation owed the US president nothing more than an apology.

But former legal correspondent for the BBC Joshua Rozenberg also told Sky News that he believed the corporation would “very likely” consider settling with Trump.

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Mr Trump’s attack on the BBC is the latest in a long string of multibillion-dollar battles he’s engaged with various media institutions.