BBC director-general Tim Davie sensationally quit on Sunday evening after a week of crises.
An impartiality row rocked the national broadcaster after an internal report accused it of bias, censorship and doctoring footage of Donald Trump.
Mr Davie admitted ‘mistakes’ had been made, adding: ‘I have to take ultimate responsibility.’ Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News, also resigned, saying the ‘buck stops with me’.
Ms Turness admitted the editing of footage of the US President in a Panorama documentary had caused ‘damage’ to the BBC.
Mr Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night: ‘The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that the corporation was ‘100 per cent fake news’.
Ms Leavitt then posted a screenshot of her comments alongside the corporation’s announcement of Mr Davie’s resignation. She captioned the tweet: ‘Shot’ and ‘Chaser’.
Both executives have resigned rather than been sacked, with BBC chairman Samir Shah calling it a ‘sad day’.
A BBC insider told the Daily Mail that Mr Davie was ‘furious’ at political leaders who ‘jumped on the report to bring him down’.
Tim Davie on Sunday night admitted ‘mistakes’ had been made, adding: ‘I have to take ultimate responsibility’
Deborah Turness (pictured), chief executive of BBC News, also resigned, saying the ‘buck stops with me’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said on Wednesday that ‘heads should roll’ over the revelations, which she branded ‘absolutely shocking’.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson said in his Mail column on Saturday – later shared online by Mr Trump – that Mr Davie either had to break his silence and explain the Trump incident or resign, or he would refuse to pay his licence fee.
Reform leader Nigel Farage accused Mr Davie of ‘double standards’ over his handling of the crisis.
The Mail on Sunday further revealed how two of the BBC’s leading presenters claimed that airing concerns about its coverage was part of a political campaign to ‘destroy’ the corporation.
Nick Robinson’s remarks – endorsed by veteran reporter John Simpson – were swiftly condemned as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘arrogant’ by Mr Johnson.
Mrs Badenoch said on Sunday night it was ‘right that Tim Davie and Deborah Turness have finally taken responsibility and resigned’.
But she added: ‘Let’s be honest, this has been a catalogue of serious failures that runs far deeper.
‘The Prescott report exposed institutional bias that cannot be swept away with two resignations – strong action must be taken on all the issues it raised.
‘The culture at the BBC has not yet changed. BBC Arabic must be brought under urgent control. The BBC’s US and Middle East coverage needs a full overhaul. And on basic matters of biology, the corporation can no longer allow its output to be shaped by a cabal of ideological activists.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a two-word response to Mr Davie’s departure alongside two screenshots of news articles
Mr Trump shared a Daily Mail column from Boris Johnson, where the former Prime Minister vowed to withhold his licence fee over the impartiality issue
‘The new leadership must now deliver genuine reform of the culture of the BBC, top to bottom.’
Senior Tory MP James Cleverly said the BBC’s problem was ‘a failure to recognise its own bias’.
He added: ‘They saw each ‘mistake’ as being in isolation and couldn’t or wouldn’t see a wider pattern. I want the BBC to succeed, it’s a powerful British brand, but it needs a proper kick up the arse for that to happen. Perhaps this is it.’
Mr Davie’s resignation brings to an end to a 20-year career at the BBC which saw him rise from director of marketing, communications and audiences.
Since he took the top job in 2020, the corporation has faced many crises, including the prosecution of newsreader Huw Edwards over possession of indecent images of children, the axing of MasterChef presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode, and the airing of a performance of Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, when its lead singer chanted ‘Death to the IDF’.
But it was a report by Michael Prescott, a former adviser to the corporation’s editorial watchdog, which brought down the director-general. In a 19-page document, he accused corporation of doctoring a speech by Mr Trump and censoring the debate on transgender issues, and said its Gaza coverage had been biased.
Mr Davie said he wanted to hand over to a new director-general ahead of Royal Charter renewal negotiations with the Government, which will decide the broadcaster’s future funding model.
In a note to staff on Sunday, he said: ‘Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable. While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision.
‘Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility.’
BBC chairman Mr Shah said: ‘This is a sad day for the BBC. Tim has been an outstanding director-general for the last five years. He has had the full support of me and the board throughout. However, I understand the continued pressure on him, personally and professionally, which has led him to take this decision. The whole board respects the decision and the reasons for it.’
Ms Turness, who was poached from ITN by Mr Davie three years ago, told staff: ‘The ongoing controversy around the Panorama on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love. In public life, leaders need to be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down.
‘While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.’
Mr Farage said the resignations ‘must be the start of wholesale change’. He added: ‘The Government need to appoint somebody with a record of coming in and turning companies and their cultures around. This is the BBC’s last chance. If they don’t get this right, there will be vast numbers refusing to pay the licence fee.’
Ms Turness, who was poached from ITN by Mr Davie three years ago, told staff: ‘The ongoing controversy around the Panorama on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love’
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: ‘I want to thank Tim Davie for his service to public broadcasting over many years. As a Government, we will support the board as it manages this transition and ensure that the Charter Review is the catalyst that helps the BBC to adapt to this new era.’
Mr Davie’s resignation came hours after the Mail contacted the BBC with serious allegations that its board had ignored calls for an investigation into anti-Semitism at the corporation.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has called for an independent inquiry. It added tonight: ‘Until that independent inquiry comes, it is unconscionable to force taxpayers to pay for the biased, sanctimonious and unaccountable BBC.’
The Board of Deputies of British Jews called for ‘deep cultural change’ at the corporation, adding that the two resignations ‘must be seen as the beginning, rather than the end, of a process of renewal’.
News boss who boasted of ‘impartial journalism’
By Kristina Wemyss
Following her appointment as the BBC’s director of news, Deborah Turness said there had ‘never been a greater need for [its] powerful brand of impartial, trusted journalism’.
Ms Turness, 58, joined the Corporation in January 2022, leaving her previous role as chief executive of ITN, which provides ITV’s news.
But just three years later, she has resigned after a tumultuous tenure overshadowed by rows over trans issues, accuracy and impartiality.
In a statement today, Ms Turness said ‘ongoing controversy’ around a Panorama episode had ‘reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love’.
‘In public life, leaders need to be accountable, and that is why I am stepping down,’ she added.
The corporation is expected to apologise tomorrow following concerns about impartiality, including how a speech by US President Donald Trump was edited in the programme.
It is just the latest scandal that Ms Turness has faced during her time at the BBC. In July, Ofcom found it had broken its editorial guidelines by failing to disclose that the documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was narrated by the 13-year-old son of a Hamas official.
During the fallout, reports emerged that Ms Turness, in a leaked call, urged staff to ‘continually remind people of the difference’ between Hamas politicians and those who were part of the terrorist group’s military.
The Israeli ambassador to Britain, Tzipi Hotovely, said she had ‘no confidence’ in her after these comments, calling them ‘outrageous’ and indicative of BBC’s alleged bias.
And only yesterday, The Mail on Sunday revealed that there had been calls for Ms Turness to be removed after newsreader Martine Croxall was found to have breached impartiality rules when she corrected the term ‘pregnant people’ to ‘women’ on air.
In her role overseeing the corporation’s news and current affairs programming, Ms Turness was paid a £431,000 salary and was responsible for 6,000 workers.
