Farage says Trump ‘very, very unhappy’ with BBC – and he could not quote him before watershed
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?”
Politics latest: Farage says ministers ‘only listen to big business’
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.
Pic: Reuters
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.”
Tim Davie resigned on Sunday evening. Pic: PA
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”.
BBC latest: Outgoing BBC News boss rejects ‘institutional bias’
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.”
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Tim Davie ‘was right’ to resign
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.”
Outgoing BBC News boss Deborah Turness spoke to the media on Monday. Pic: PA
Read more:
The BBC controversies faced by Tim Davie during his time in charge
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.
Thousands of members of actors’ trade union Equity are being asked whether they would support industrial action over artificial intelligence protections.
The organisation has launched an indicative ballot among about 7,000 members working in film and TV.
Performers are being asked whether they are prepared to refuse to be digitally scanned on set in order to secure adequate artificial intelligence protections.
It will be the first time the performing arts and entertainment trade union has asked this whole section of its membership to vote in a ballot.
The Hollywood strikes took place in 2023. File pic: AP
The announcement follows the Hollywood strikes in 2023, when members of Equity’s sister union in the US, SAG-AFTRA, and writers, went on strike over issues including AI.
Video game actors in the US also protested over the use of AI, ending almost a year of industrial action earlier in 2025.
Equity’s ballot opens on Thursday and runs for two weeks, and will show the level of support the union has for action short of a strike.
Another statutory ballot would have to be made before any industrial action is taken.
“While tech companies get away with stealing artists’ likeness or work, and the government and decision makers fret over whether to act, unions including Equity are at the forefront of the fight to ensure working people are protected from artificial intelligence misuse,” Equity general secretary Paul W Fleming said in a statement.
“If bosses can’t ensure someone’s likeness and work won’t be used without their consent, why should performers consent to be digitally scanned in the first place?”
Mr Fleming said the ballot would give members the opportunity to “send a clear message to the industry: that it is a basic right of performers to have autonomy over their own personhood and identity”.
The union has no choice but to recommend members support industrial action, he said.
“It’s time for the bosses to step away from the brink and offer us a package, including on AI protections, which respects our members,” added Mr Fleming.
The hotly anticipated Spotify Wrapped is revealing our top tracks, artists and albums for 2025.
But how does the streaming service calculate personalised summaries of users’ listening habits and rank the UK’s hottest artists?
Here’s a look at how your data is used.
The platform describes the annual statistics as “a chance to look back on your year in sound”.
It says data is captured between January and mid-November on every account, although it mostly excludes anything streamed in private mode. (Don’t worry, your passion for the Spice Girls can be kept secret.)
Wrapped presents personalised listening statistics, which Spotify calls the “real story of your year of listening”, alongside global figures for comparison.
The streaming service says Minutes Listened reflects the actual time spent listening to audio on the platform.
Once a user streams at least 30 tracks, Spotify generates a list of Your Top Songs. Similarly, Your Top Artists ranks artists based on total minutes listening to a particular performer.
Other metrics identify the top genres users have played, as well as podcasts and audiobooks ranked by total minutes listened. And if you’ve listened to at least 70% of tracks on a record, you’ll see top albums too.
Spotify also creates Your Listening Age, a guesstimate of your age based on the era of the music “you feel most connected to”.
The streaming service says the statistic is calculated using a five-year span of music which users engaged with more than other listeners of a similar age.
Spotify has been summing up 2025’s most listened to tracks. Pic: Spotify
Swift vs Bunny
Pop superstar Taylor Swift has been named the UK’s most-streamed artist on Spotify for the third year in a row.
But she dropped out of the top spot in the global rankings, coming second to Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who secured more than 19.8 billion streams. Third were The Weeknd, followed by Drake and Billie Eilish.
Bad Bunny’s LP Debi Tirar Mas Fotos was the most listened-to album worldwide.
Read more from Sky News:
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Spotify revealed Drake was the UK’s second most-listened to artist, followed by Sabrina Carpenter in third, The Weeknd in fourth and Billie Eilish in fifth.
Despite being the most listened-to artist, Swift failed to break into the UK’s top five most listened-to songs and albums of the year.
Alex Warren’s Ordinary was the most-streamed song, and Short ‘N’ Sweet, released by Carpenter last year, the top album.
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