The BBC controversies faced by Tim Davie during his time in charge

Published

6 days ago

November 10, 2025

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Tim Davie stepping down as director-general of the BBC comes after several controversies faced by the broadcaster in recent years.

His resignation came at the same time as that of BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness, at the end of a week in which concerns about impartiality were raised over how a speech by US President Donald Trump was edited in an episode of Panorama.

“While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision,” Mr Davie wrote in a note sent to staff.

“Overall, the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility.”

Mr Davie has been in the role for five years and at the BBC for 20 in total, having previously worked as director of marketing, director of audio and music, and chief executive of BBC Studios.

Here are the controversies the broadcaster has faced in recent years.

The Trump documentary edit

A memo sent in the summer by a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, highlighting the edit of a Donald Trump speech as well as other concerns about impartiality, was first reported by The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

The concerns regard clips spliced together from sections of a speech made by the US president on 6 January 2021, featured in the Panorama programme Trump: A Second Chance?

It made it appear that Mr Trump told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell”, although the quotes were made during separate parts of the speech. The episode was broadcast by the BBC the week before last year’s US election.

Bob Vylan at Glastonbury

In July, punk-rap duo Bob Vylan led chants of “death to the IDF” while on stage at Glastonbury, a performance which was live-streamed as part of the BBC’s coverage of the festival.

Afterwards, the broadcaster said it would no longer live broadcast “high risk” performances, and suggested disciplinary action could be taken against staff who failed to halt the stream.

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit received four complaints about the performance relating to incitement to violence, terrorism or ethnic cleansing, hate speech and expressions of antisemitism.

In a ruling given in September, it found the stream of the performance had breached its editorial standards.

Following the backlash over the Glastonbury gig, Bob Vylan said in a post on Instagram that “we are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people”.

MasterChef

In the same month, presenter Gregg Wallace was sacked from cooking show MasterChef after an investigation into historical allegations of misconduct upheld multiple accusations against him. These first emerged towards the end of 2024.

Wallace, who co-presented the show for almost 20 years, said he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate”, but also said in a statement released ahead of the publication of a summary of the report that he had been “cleared of the most serious and sensational accusations” made against him.

His co-presenter John Torode left the show the following week after an allegation he used an “extremely offensive racist term” was upheld, the BBC said.

In October, Wallace announced he was suing the broadcaster for “distress and harassment”.

Gary Lineker

No stranger to controversy during his last few years at the BBC, Gary Lineker stepped down from hosting Match Of The Day and World Cup coverage in May.

It came after he apologised unreservedly for sharing a social media post from the Palestine Lobby group that had been illustrated with a rat – which has been used to represent Jewish people in antisemitic propaganda, including Nazi Germany.

He said he had not known about the rat’s symbolism.

“I would never consciously repost anything antisemitic – it goes against everything I stand for,” Lineker said in a statement as he confirmed his resignation. “However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.”

The former England star had previously been temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023, after an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the then Conservative government’s asylum policy.

His temporary suspension led pundits Ian Wright and Alan Shearer to both announce they would not appear on Match of the Day, and a shortened show went ahead without commentary, pundit analysis, or post-match interviews.

The incident sparked a report, which decided that high-profile BBC presenters outside of its news coverage should be able to express their views on political issues as long as they stop short of campaigning.

Gaza documentary

Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was pulled from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the 13-year-old boy narrating the programme was the son of a deputy minister in the Hamas-run government.

The documentary was made by independent production company Hoyo Films.

A BBC review into the controversial programme said three members of the independent production company knew about the role of the boy’s father – but no one within the corporation was aware.

In July, the BBC said it had breached its own editorial guidelines by failing to disclose the full identity of the child narrator’s father – Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.

In October, an Ofcom investigation found the documentary had breached the broadcasting code.

Huw Edwards

In April 2024, veteran news presenter Huw Edwards resigned from the BBC, nine months after coming off air following accusations of paying a teenager thousands of pounds for sexually explicit pictures.

Just a few months later, it emerged he had remained one of the broadcaster’s highest-paid stars of the year, despite his suspension.

Days later, new allegations emerged – and he was charged and pleaded guilty in court to three counts of “making” indecent images of children, after receiving the illegal images as part of a WhatsApp conversation.

The court heard how he paid up to £1,500 to a paedophile who sent him 41 illegal images between December 2020 and August 2021, seven of which were of the most serious type.

The disgraced broadcaster avoided jail, but was given a six-month suspended sentence.

Strictly Come Dancing

Ahead of the 2024 series of BBC favourite Strictly Come Dancing, producers said they would introduce staff chaperones into all future rehearsals.

It followed the departure of two professional dancers following complaints about their behaviour.

Following an investigation, the BBC upheld “some, but not all” of the allegations made against Giovanni Pernice by his 2023 dance partner Amanda Abbington.

Abbington described an apology from the corporation as vindication, while Pernice denied displaying “abusive or threatening behaviour” and said the majority of the complaints had not been upheld.

Another professional dancer, Graziano Di Prima, also left the show amid reports of alleged misconduct.

Apology over Diana interview

In 2021, a report into Martin Bashir‘s bombshell 1995 programme with Princess Diana found the journalist had “deceived and induced” her brother to secure the interview.

By using fake bank statements, Mr Bashir made a “serious breach” of BBC guidelines on straight-dealing, the Lord Dyson report concluded.

Mr Davie, who was not at the BBC at the time the programme was made, issued a “full and unconditional” apology after the findings were released, and the corporation sent written apologies to Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as to Prince Charles and Earl Spencer.

Mr Bashir also apologised and said the faking of bank statements was a “stupid thing to do” and “an action I deeply regret”, but added he felt it had “no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview”.

Former director-general Lord Hall, who was the BBC’s director of news and current affairs when the Diana interview was screened, said he accepted the corporation’s 1996 inquiry into how the sit-down was secured “fell well short of what was required”.

UK

Home secretary vows to end UK’s ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers – as Denmark-based reforms to be unveiled

Published

2 hours ago

November 16, 2025

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Home secretary vows to end UK's 'golden ticket' for asylum seekers - as Denmark-based reforms to be unveiled

The home secretary is set to unveil sweeping measures to tackle illegal migration, vowing to end the UK’s ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers.

People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay in the country temporarily, in the changes expected to be unveiled on Monday by Shabana Mahmood.

Modelled on the Danish system, the aim is to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants and make it easier to deport them.

Planned changes mean that refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review, with refugees removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe.

The Home Office said the “golden ticket” deal has seen asylum claims surge in the UK, drawing people across Europe, through safe countries, onto dangerous small boats.

Under current UK rules, those granted refugee status have it for five years and can then apply for indefinite leave to remain and get on a route to citizenship.

As part of the changes, the statutory legal duty to provide asylum seeker support, including housing and weekly allowances, will be revoked.

The government will seek to remove asylum support, including accommodation and handouts, to those who have a right to work and who can support themselves but choose not to or those who break UK law.

‘Last chance for a decent politics’

A government source said Ms Mahmood believes her reforms are about “more than the electoral fortunes of her party”.

“This is the last chance for a decent, mainstream politics. If these moderate forces fail, she believes, something darker will follow,” they said.

“But this demands that moderates are willing to do things that will seem immoderate to some. She has reminded those who are reluctant to embrace her ambition for bold reform, with an ultimatum: ‘if you don’t like this, you won’t like what follows me.'”

Ms Mahmood said they were the most sweeping changes to the asylum system “in a generation”, as she vowed the government will “restore order and control to our borders”.

The home secretary also told The Sunday Times that “I can see – and I know my colleagues can – that illegal migration is tearing our country apart”.

System being ‘gamed’

The source said Ms Mahmood believes the system is being “gamed by those travelling on boats or abusing legal visas”.

Some 39,075 people have arrived in the UK after making the journey across the Channel so far this year, according to the latest Home Office figures.

That is an increase of 19% on the same point in 2024 and up 43% on 2023, but remains 5% lower than at the equivalent point in 2022, which remains the peak year for crossings.

What happened in Denmark?

The UK government points to Denmark remaining a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, while also cutting the number of asylum applications to the lowest number in 40 years and successfully removing 95% of rejected asylum seekers.

What are Denmark’s migration rules?

Denmark has adopted increasingly restrictive rules in order to deal with migration over the last few years.

In Denmark, most asylum or refugee statuses are temporary. Residency can be revoked once a country is deemed safe.

In order to achieve settlement, asylum seekers are required to be in full-time employment, and the length of time it takes to acquire those rights has been extended.

Denmark also has tougher rules on family reunification – both the sponsor and their partner are required to be at least 24 years old, which the Danish government says is designed to prevent forced marriages.

The sponsor must also not have claimed welfare for three years and must provide a financial guarantee for their partner. Both must also pass a Danish language test.

In 2018, Denmark introduced what it called a ghetto package, a controversial plan to radically alter some residential areas, including by demolishing social housing. Areas with over 1,000 residents were defined as ghettos if more than 50% were “immigrants and their descendants from non-Western countries”.

In 2021, the left of centre government passed a law that allowed refugees arriving on Danish soil to be moved to asylum centres in a partner country – and subsequently agreed with Rwanda to explore setting up a program, although that has been put on hold.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Labour government has “lost control” of the UK’s borders” with illegal channel crossings “surging to over 62,000 since the election”.

He said some of the new measures were welcome but “they stop well short of what is really required and some are just yet more gimmicks – like the previous ‘smash the gangs’ gimmick”.

Mr Philp added: “Only the Conservative borders plan will end illegal immigration – by leaving the ECHR, banning asylum claims for illegal immigrants, deporting all illegal arrivals within a week and establishing a Removals Force to deport 150,000 illegal immigrants each year.”

And Enver Solomon, chief executive of Refugee Council, said: “These sweeping changes will not deter people from making dangerous crossings, but they will unfairly prevent men, women and children from putting down roots and integrating into British life.”

Ms Mahmood will be appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sunday.

UK

Rail worker who protected passengers during mass stabbing on Huntingdon train discharged from hospital

Published

8 hours ago

November 15, 2025

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Rail worker who protected passengers during mass stabbing on Huntingdon train discharged from hospital

The train crew member who was seriously injured while trying to protect passengers during a mass stabbing has been discharged from hospital.

Samir Zitouni, 48, known as Sam, was working on board the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) train from Doncaster to London when the attack began in Cambridgeshire on Saturday 1 November.

LNER said Mr Zitouni, who has worked for the firm for more than 20 years, was credited with helping to save multiple lives.

Mr Zitouni had been in a critical condition, having suffered multiple injuries in the incident, but was discharged on Saturday.

His family said: “We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from the public, and very touched by all the kind words about Sam’s brave actions on the night of the attack.

“While we are really happy to have him home, he still has a significant recovery ahead and we would now like to be left in privacy to care for him as a family.”

Earlier this month, LNER said he has been a “valued member” of staff for over 20 years, working on board as a customer experience host.

David Horne, managing director at LNER, said: “In a moment of crisis, Sam did not hesitate as he stepped forward to protect those around him.

“His actions were incredibly brave, and we are so proud of him, and of all our colleagues who acted with such courage that evening. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Sam and his family. We will continue to support them and wish him a full and speedy recovery.”

The attack is understood to have started shortly after the train left Peterborough, with passengers pulling the emergency alarms on the LNER service.

Train driver Andrew Johnson, who served in the Royal Navy for 17 years, contacted a signaller and requested an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon station.

11 people were treated in hospital after the mass stabbing – nine were initially reported as having life-threatening injuries.

Anthony Williams, 32, was remanded into custody at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on November 3, charged with 10 counts of attempted murder over the incident.

He will appear at Cambridge Crown Court on 1 December.

UK

Donald Trump confirms he will sue the BBC over Panorama edit – despite broadcaster’s apology

Published

1 day ago

November 15, 2025

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Donald Trump confirms he will sue the BBC over Panorama edit - despite broadcaster's apology

Donald Trump has said he will sue the BBC for between $1bn and $5bn over the editing of his speech on Panorama.

The US president confirmed he would be taking legal action against the broadcaster while on Air Force One overnight on Saturday.

“We’ll sue them. We’ll sue them for anywhere between a billion (£792m) and five billion dollars (£3.79bn), probably sometime next week,” he told reporters.

“We have to do it, they’ve even admitted that they cheated. Not that they couldn’t have not done that. They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”

Mr Trump then told reporters he would discuss the matter with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the weekend, and claimed “the people of the UK are very angry about what happened… because it shows the BBC is fake news”.

The Daily Telegraph reported earlier this month that an internal memo raised concerns about the BBC’s editing of a speech made by Mr Trump on 6 January 2021, just before a mob rioted at the US Capitol building, on its flagship late-night news programme.

The concerns regard clips spliced together from sections of the president’s speech to make it appear he told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell” in the documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, which was broadcast by the BBC the week before last year’s US election.

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

‘No basis for defamation claim’

On Thursday, the broadcaster officially apologised to the president and added that it was an “error of judgement” and the programme will “not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms”.

A spokesperson said that “the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited,” but they also added that “we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim”.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn unless it apologised, retracted the clip, and compensated him.

Legal challenges

But legal experts have said that Mr Trump would face challenges taking the case to court in the UK or the US.

The deadline to bring the case to UK courts, where defamation damages rarely exceed £100,000 ($132,000), has already expired because the documentary aired in October 2024, which is more than one year.

Also because the documentary was not shown in the US, it would be hard to show that Americans thought less of the president because of a programme they could not watch.

Newsnight allegations

The BBC has said it was looking into fresh allegations, published in The Telegraph, that its Newsnight show also selectively edited footage of the same speech in a report broadcast in June 2022.

A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC holds itself to the highest editorial standards. This matter has been brought to our attention and we are now looking into it.”

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