Keir Starmer previously said he believes ‘the principle of an independent trusted BBC is really important and should be defended’ amid legal threats from Donald Trump
Keir Starmer is under pressure to stand up for the BBC against Donald Trump’s “outrageous legal threat”.
The Prime Minister last month said he believes “the principle of an independent trusted BBC is really important and should be defended”.
But he is being urged to take a stronger stance against the US President, who overnight filed a multibillion pound defamation lawsuit against the BBC for selectively editing one of his speeches in an episode of Panorama.
The BBC said documents filed at a court in Florida asked for five billion dollars (£3.7 billion) in damages for defamation, as well as the same amount for a claim of violating trade practices.
READ MORE: Donald Trump sues BBC $5 billion for Panorama speech edit: ‘They put words in my mouth’
Last month, the broadcaster apologised to Mr Trump over the edit of the Panorama episode, which led to the resignations of the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and its head of news, Deborah Turness. But the BBC rejected the Republican politician’s demands for compensation and said there was no “basis for a defamation claim”.
According to the Associated Press, the 33-page lawsuit accuses the organisation of broadcasting a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump”, calling it “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 US presidential election.
It also accused the BBC of “splicing together two entirely separate parts of President Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021” in order to “intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what President Trump said”.
Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey accused Mr Trump’s White House of wanting to “interfere in our democracy” and called on Mr Starmer to take action. He said: “Keir Starmer needs to stand up for the BBC against Trump’s outrageous legal threat and protect licence fee payers from being hit in the pocket.
“The Trump administration has clearly set out they want to interfere in our democracy, which includes undermining our national broadcaster. The Prime Minister needs to make clear this is unacceptable.”
Health minister Stephen Kinnock said the BBC is right to “stand firm” in the face of Mr Trump’s defamation lawsuit.
Mr Kinnock told Sky News: “I think they have apologised for one or two of the mistakes that were made in that Panorama programme, but they’ve also been very clear that there is no case to answer in terms of Mr Trump’s accusations on the broader point about libel or defamation.
“So, you know, I think it’s right that the BBC stands firm on that point. Yes, there were some mistakes made in that particular piece of film, but I think the broader argument that they were making; they’re right to stick by their guns on that and I hope that they will continue to do so.”
He said the Labour Party would “always stand up for the BBC as a vitally important institution”.