Ed Davey demands leaders call out ‘Trump’s BBC assault’

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has written to Labour, Reform, and the Conservatives to ask that they criticise Donald Trump’s recent actions:

I’ve written to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage urging them to condemn Donald Trump’s attack on the BBC.

The BBC belongs to Britain, not Trump. We must defend it together. pic.twitter.com/MBexY9ZM1x

— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) November 10, 2025

“Serious threat to our national interest”

In the letter above, Davey writes:

President Trump’s assault on the BBC is a serious threat to our national interest, and I urge you to join me in standing up against it.

The BBC belongs to everyone here in the United Kingdom. We should be incredibly proud that the UK is home to the world’s number one source of trusted news – something that strengthens our democracy while also enhancing our power to uphold our values around the globe.

As a public service broadcaster, the BBC has an important, distinctive and vibrant role to play in the UK’s cultural and media landscape – helping to boost growth and create jobs. We cannot afford to let it be destroyed by Donald Trump and his allies.

It should be extremely concerning to us all to see the President of the United States pressuring the BBC over its leadership and attacking its journalists as “corrupt”, and his Press Secretary telling everyone to “watch GB News”. 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.

The BBC’s strength lies in its independence and impartiality. That has been eroded, and it is essential that, together, we urgently work to ensure that it is properly independent and strong enough to stand up to political pressure, whether foreign or domestic. The BBC must stay true to its original mission – to inform, educate and entertain – and not be bullied into giving undue prominence to the loudest, most divisive voices.

We have watched with alarm as Trump and his allies have undermined the free press in the United States, and all the damage that has done to American democracy. We cannot let that happen here.

Will you join me in condemning Donald Trump’s attack on the BBC? As political leaders, we have a responsibility to protect one of our nation’s most treasured institutions from becoming subservient to Donald Trump and his cronies, especially when their values are so far removed from the values of the British people.

The BBC belongs to Britain, not Trump. We must defend it together.

Response

Conservative Kemi Badenoch responded directly to Davey’s letter online:

Being “pro-BBC” means defending impartiality, not bias.
⁰If it wants to justify the licence fee, the BBC needs to reflect a broad spectrum of views in Britain. Not just the left’s.

Those of us who actually believe in the institution are trying to save the BBC from itself. https://t.co/lnkEigPj49

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) November 10, 2025

And Davey responded to her:

Were you defending impartiality when you put two Conservative cronies on the BBC Board?

I take it you’ll back my calls to remove Robbie Gibb now? https://t.co/9SdQEETDy3

— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) November 10, 2025

Sangita Myska is another who drew attention to Robbie Gibb:

NEW: BBC Director General Tim Davie & News CEO Deborah Turness resign after claims the BBC’s editing of Trump speech was biased.

BBC Board Member Robbie Gibb – frontman of the discredited Jewish Chronicle & man accused of being “an agent of the Conservative Party” – stays. pic.twitter.com/6zgs2ugX35

— Sangita Myska (@SangitaMyska) November 9, 2025

It’s astonishing that a man who was director of communications for a political party & who helped set up a right wing propaganda TV channel should have ever been placed on the board of a supposedly impartial & independent broadcasting service.https://t.co/PK18tFn5Vv

— Alan Lester (@aljhlester) November 11, 2025

Nigel Farage, meanwhile, has issued the following messages:

The BBC has been institutionally biased for decades. pic.twitter.com/gYwRSXVeM6

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) November 11, 2025

A former Plaid Cymru Chief Executive is now being paid £190k a year as the BBC’s Nations Director.

This is living proof that the BBC is infected with left-wing bias right to the top. pic.twitter.com/E73CzVzjkV

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) November 10, 2025

Others have disputed this idea, noting that Tim Davie ran as a Conservative politician:

I challenged BBC’s Tim Davie this week on political bias

Of direct relevance is the fact that he stood as a Conservative candidate before *in my seat* and got very prickly when I reminded him at his 2022 visit to select committee

And the chair who shut me down is… Conservative pic.twitter.com/sYYsBnZVDg

— Rupa Huq MP (@RupaHuq) March 7, 2025

BBC news is led by right-wing Tories.

Now they try and say it’s bias against the right?

Ludicrous. They platformed Farage 38 times, before he was an MP. They made Farage. pic.twitter.com/etIp0uXqpH

— Harry Eccles (@Heccles94) November 10, 2025

Lots of discourse on the BBC, especially from the right wing.

Watch @NoJusticeMTG dismantle the myth that it has a left-wing bias, but instead has a capital bias. pic.twitter.com/Hx7lt0lRtV

— Turn Left Media (@TurnLeftMediaUK) November 11, 2025

Writing for the Canary, Ed Sykes said the following on Robbie Gibb and his supporters (emphasis added):

He has long sought to push the BBC to the far right or, alternatively, “blow the place up”.

Government-appointed directors supported Gibb’s interference. And his friend Michael Prescott, a far-from-neutral ‘adviser’, backed up the assault with an extreme memo saying the BBC had:

• Focused too much on the suffering of Palestinian women and children during the Gaza genocide
• Been too critical of Israel on BBC Arabic
• Been too critical of fascist billionaire sex pest Donald Trump
• Reported too much about racism
• Been too sympathetic on trans rights
• Not pushed immigration stories enough

In short, the BBC wasn’t supportive enough of a divisive, genocidal, far-right agenda.

Featured image via John Francis Russell (Wikimedia) / Roger Harris (Wikimedia) / Gage Skidmore (Flickr) / Number 10 (Flickr)