UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – British PM Sir Keir Starmer under pressure to challenge US President Trump over his $10bn BBC lawsuit, defending the broadcaster and UK licence fee payers.
As reported by Andrew Sparrow of The Guardian, Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to tell Donald Trump that his anti-BBC lawsuit is unacceptable, after the President cited Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch in a “fake news” claim.
What did political party leaders urge Keir Starmer about Donald Trump’s anti-BBC lawsuit?
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has frequently accused the BBC of bias on certain issues and, when criticism of the Panorama edit later emerged, she joined others attacking the programme’s construction.
It remains unclear how British voters viewed her remarks, but they appear to have influenced the president’s legal team, who referenced her comments in the lawsuit.
President Trump’s lawyers said in the lawsuit that,
“Conservative party leader and member of parliament Kemi Badenoch said that the distortion of the speech by the Panorama documentary was “absolutely shocking,” adding: “That is fake news, actually putting different things together to make something look different from what it actually was.” She continued: “And I do think heads should roll. Whoever it was who did that should be sacked, that’s what Tim Davie should be doing, identifying who put out misinformation, and sacking them.” Badenoch added: “The public need to be able to trust our public broadcaster .. . They should not be telling us things that are not true. This is a corporation that needs to hold itself to the highest standards, and that means that when we see people doing the wrong thing, they should be punished, they should be sacked.”
Sir Keir Starmer has so far avoided direct involvement in the BBC dispute, arguing that the broadcaster is operationally independent and that the matter should be resolved without government intervention. Although there were reports that the Labour leader and President Trump might discuss the issue, no talks have taken place.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, has repeatedly spoken out. He has frequently called on the prime minister to adopt a firmer approach with Trump on various issues and said that Starmer should tell the president his compensation demand is unacceptable.
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.”
Mr Davey added,
“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.”
What did Donald Trump’s legal team say about the BBC edits and lawsuit?
A spokesperson for Donald Trump’s legal team said the edits of his speech, aired a week before the 2024 presidential election, amounted to a ‘brazen attempt’ to influence the vote.
They added,
“The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda. President Trump’s powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing.”
The lawsuit against the BBC was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, despite BBC iPlayer and BBC One not being available in the United States.
According to the lawsuit, the Florida court has jurisdiction, citing the BBC’s ‘substantial and not isolated business activities,’ referencing its website and the BritBox streaming platform available in the US and other markets.
In the legal notice against the broadcaster, his legal team states,
“The BBC, faced with overwhelming and justifiable outrage on both sides of the Atlantic, has publicly admitted its staggering breach of journalistic ethics, and apologized, but has made no showing of actual remorse for its wrongdoing nor meaningful institutional changes to prevent future journalistic abuses.”
It adds,
“Accordingly, President Trump brings this action for compensatory and punitive damages for the extensive reputational harm inflicted upon him by the defendants.”
What did the BBC say about Donald Trump’s $10bn lawsuit?
The BBC announced it will defend itself against the $10bn legal action filed by President Trump.
The broadcaster’s spokesperson added,
“As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”
Last month, the BBC stated that
“the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited,” but they also added that “we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
What did Reform UK say about Donald Trump’s BBC lawsuit?
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said he aligns with Donald Trump in calling for “wholesale change” at the BBC.
He stated,
“What I’m supportive of is the fact that President Trump is requesting and requiring much greater recognition within the BBC, just how badly they got things wrong and the wholesale change that needs to take place.”
Mr Tice added,
“It’s already resulted in the director general and the head of news going, but there needs to be a wholesale clear out of the bias in the BBC, whether it’s the bias against President Trump, whether it’s the bias against the Jewish community. There’s so many areas where the BBC has to do much, much better.”
Which former UK Prime Minister has been quoted in Trump’s BBC lawsuit?
President Trump’s legal team has cited former Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss in their case, using her comments to support their claim that the president was defamed.
They said,
“No less an authority than the United Kingdom’s former prime minister, Liz Truss, discussed this bias, the need to hold the BBC accountable, and the BBC’s pattern of actual malice.”
The document added,
“Remarked Truss: “[The BBC] is a huge problem. They’ve lied, they’ve cheated, they’ve fiddled with footage, especially in the case of President Trump, but also covering up what’s happening in Britain whether it’s mass migration, whether it’s our economic problems, they are always biased towards the left . . . .” She was also asked whether the BBC’s tepid apology was sufficient, and responded: “No I don’t, because they keep doing it again and again. They have painted a completely false picture of President Trump in Britain over a number of years, they’vedone the same thing about conservatives in our country . . . .” Lamenting the BBC’s lost status as a “paragon” of journalism, she remarked that the BBC’s “fake news” has caused immense harm to the public for a long time.”
How did the BBC dispute with Donald Trump unfold?
The conflict between the BBC and President Trump emerged after the Telegraph released a leaked internal memo from Michael Prescott, a former BBC standards adviser. The memo accused the broadcaster of “institutional bias” and specifically highlighted the misleading Panorama edit.
After facing intense public and political pressure, BBC Director-General Tim Davie and the CEO of BBC News, Deborah Turness, both resigned. Davie stated he had to take “ultimate responsibility” for the mistakes.
BBC Chairman Samir Shah issued a formal apology for the “error of judgment” in the edit but denied accusations of institutional bias. Trump threatened a $1 billion lawsuit shortly after.
President Trump officially filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit in a Florida federal court. The suit seeks $5 billion for defamation and $5 billion for alleged violations of trade practices laws.
Who is the owner of the BBC?
The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is a public corporation established by a Royal Charter, which makes it a unique legal entity that is technically “owned” by the British public.
It is a statutory corporation, meaning it was created by the government but is operationally and editorially independent. The broadcaster is overseen by the BBC Board, which is responsible for ensuring it fulfills its mission to “inform, educate and entertain.”
