Outgoing BBC director-general Tim Davie says he believes the broadcaster will be ‘thriving’ as he prepares to leave following the Trump Panorama scandal.
Mr Davie spoke to journalists outside New Broadcasting House in London this morning – in his first public appearance since announcing his resignation on Sunday.
Looking solemn as he approached before perking up to greet reporters, he said: ‘I’m here to lead and support the BBC. I’m very, very proud of our journalists in this building.
‘They’re doing work that I think is incredibly important. I want to thank every one of them, they’re doing a wonderful job – also, everyone across the BBC doing their thing, their bit for the UK.
‘Personally, I’m here to lead and support them. The BBC is going to be thriving and I support every one of the team. I’m very proud of them.’
Mr Davie, who arrived at work wearing white trainers and a dark blue Reiss suit, declined to answer any questions from reporters, flashing them a brief thumbs up as he turned to enter the building.
He is set to host a video call where staff will be able to ask him questions; later today, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is expected to make a statement in the Commons on the issues plaguing the BBC.
Tim Davie, outgoing director-general of the BBC, pictured outside New Broadcasting House today
Mr Davie, who announced his resignation on Sunday, said the BBC would be ‘thriving’ in future
Alongside director of BBC News Deborah Turness, Mr Davie announced his resignation on Sunday following several rows over the corporation’s impartiality.
The furore blew up last week when it emerged news programme Panorama had aired a misleading edit of US President Donald Trump that gave the impression he was explicitly encouraging violence in the hours before the January 6 Capitol riot.
Yesterday, BBC chairman Samir Shah sensationally admitted an ‘error of judgement’ in the editing and confirmed he had received a letter from the President’s lawyers threatening to sue for $1billion (£761million).
Putting the corporation on ‘notice’, Mr Trump’s legal team demanded a full retraction, immediate apology and an offer of compensation over the ‘fabricated depiction’ of the 47th President.
The President has form in this area, having settled cases with ABC News and CBS News in the past. He is currently engaged in lawsuits against the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
The White House is also said to be mulling over whether to restrict BBC journalists from press packs.
The Associated Press agency has had its access to the President severely limited after it refused to call the Gulf of Mexico by his preferred name, the Gulf of America.
BBC chair Mr Shah said of Mr Trump: ‘He’s a litigious fellow. So we should be prepared for all outcomes.’
He said the broadcaster had received more than 500 complaints since an explosive memo detailing the edit was leaked, but denied an issue with ‘systemic bias’.
A BBC spokesman said it ‘will review the letter and respond directly in due course’.
Labour has leapt to the BBC’s defence today after Downing Street backed the corporation in the wake of Mr Davie and Ms Turness’ resignations.
Local government minister Alison McGovern told Times Radio that the UK should avoid having a ‘national meltdown’ about the corporation.
Mr Davie looked solemn as he arrived at New Broadcasting House
Yesterday, outgoing director of BBC News Deborah Turness defiantly insisted that her newsroom was not ‘institutionally biased’
‘I think we need to make sure that the BBC, one of our most trusted media organisations, invests in quality journalism and tells the stories that we all want to hear,’ she said. She declined to be drawn on whether Mr Trump should be able to sue.
The BBC has faced numerous accusations of editorial bias after the memo, written by independent adviser Michael Prescott, laid bare issues within its newsroom.
Originally written for the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board, Mr Prescott’s briefing paper claimed a group of pro-trans reporters were effectively stonewalling the reporting of gender critical views.
Instead, the corporation was alleged to have published a ‘constant drip-feed of one-sided stories…celebrating the trans experience’, Mr Prescott said.
His memo also noted that several BBC Arabic service reporters were allegedly covering stories critical of Israel while not covering the abduction of hostages by Hamas on October 7.
Mr Prescott also claimed the BBC sent relatively few notifications to readers about stories covering asylum seekers.
It was in his brief that the editing issue around President Trump was raised. It appeared in Panorama documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, which aired a week before Americans went to the polls in 2024.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he had spoken to Mr Trump about the scandal on Friday and claimed the edit amounted to ‘election interference’ by the BBC.
While the edit suggested the President was encouraging supporters to walk to the Capitol building in Washington DC to ‘fight like hell’, it later emerged he had told them ‘to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard’.
Mr Farage told LBC yesterday that the BBC had ‘deeply offended the leader of the free world, an absolutely crucial ally, whether you like Trump or not’.
Trump himself labelled Mr Davie and Ms Turness ‘very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election’ in a post on TruthSocial.
Donald Trump has claimed the scalps of Mr Davie and Ms Turness, writing on Truth Social: ‘These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election’
There have been rumblings within the corporation that the row is part of a politically motivated boardroom plot.
Deborah Turness, it is understood, had sought to have a statement admitting to the Trump editing error approved last week – but BBC board executives refused to sign it off.
Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, and John Swinney, leader of the SNP, have called for the removal of Sir Robbie Gibb – a one-time BBC political editor and one-time spin doctor for Theresa May – from the broadcaster’s board.
They claim that he ‘led the charge’ in pressuring the corporation’s leadership. Even the BBC’s own reporters have suggested there are dark forces at work – though Nick Robinson, former political editor, said Sir Robbie had ‘supported’ Mr Davie.
Mr Robinson said on the Today programme that sources had told him of ‘alleged political interference’ after ‘a hostile takeover of parts of the BBC’.
‘I understand that at the time of transmission of the Panorama film in October 2024 there were no complaints received about the editing of Donald Trump’s speech,’ he glibly noted.
Tim Davie served as acting director-general for six months from November 2012 after George Entwistle resigned in the wake of the Jimmy Savile and Lord McAlpine scandals.
He returned to the job permanently in 2020 and survived several controversies including allowing punk rap duo Bob Vylan to lead chants of ‘death, death to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)’ live on air at Glastonbury, and the Huw Edwards scandal.
His unwavering faith in the BBC comes after Ms Turness defiantly told reporters on Monday that journalists in the corporation were not ‘corrupt’.
She said outside New Broadcasting House: ‘Of course our journalists aren’t corrupt. Our journalists are hardworking people who strive for impartiality and I will stand by their journalism.
‘I stepped down over the weekend because the buck stops with me. But I’d like to make one thing very clear, BBC News is not institutionally biased.’
![Regret Sets in After an Irreversible Cold-Blooded Decision in ‘The Things You Kill’ Sneak Peek [Exclusive]](https://citigist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Regret-Sets-in-After-an-Irreversible-Cold-Blooded-Decision-in-‘The-260x140.jpg)
