Keir Starmer vows to defend a ‘trusted impartial’ BBC towards Donald Trump
US President Donald said last week he would sue the BBC following its apology over the editing of a 2021 speech broadcast. The PM confirmed he’s yet to speak to him
Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to defend a “trusted independent BBC” despite the Orange Manbaby wanting to sue the broadcaster.
The PM confirmed he is yet to speak with US President Donald Trump over the Panorama incident.
Mr Trump said last week he would sue the corporation following its apology over the editing of a 2021 speech broadcast.
The BBC apologised for the edit of Mr Trump’s speech on January 6 2021, which had given the “mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action”.
Despite the apology, Mr Trump said he would proceed with legal action for “anywhere between 1 billion dollars (£759.8 million) and 5 billion dollars (£3.79 billion)”.
He also said he would be speaking to the Prime Minister over the incident, however Sir Keir said that discussion has yet to take place.
Sir Keir said: “I have not directly spoken to him about the BBC. I speak to him fairly regularly as you know, (we) have an excellent relationship.”
The PM also said any editorial failings should be addressed “quickly”, but added: “The principle of an independent trusted BBC is really important and should be defended. So where (there are) editorial failings, yes of course that has to be addressed as you would expect and as soon as possible, with explanation.
“But the principle of a trusted independent BBC media is really important – we have to defend it.”
The BBC has said it will not air the Panorama episode Trump: A Second Chance? again, and published a retraction on the show’s webpage.
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