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13
Nov
Local Tory MP ‘welcomes’ Trump writ against 'fake news' BBC
Conservative MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke has said he "welcomes" US President Donald Trump's threat to sue the BBC.
Mr Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion for editing a speech he made unless the corporation issues a retraction, apologises and compensates him.
Sir Alec, who represents Wetherby and Easingwold, told a Parliamentary debate on Tuesday “you can trust journalism if you can sue the person who wrote it”, adding:
So I actually welcome the writ coming from America, though I hope it can be sorted out, purely to say that if something is wrong, you can do that.
The basis of why we are here today — forget all the politicking about who is on the board, what it is about Trump and anything else — is that the BBC faked a piece of news. We have to get to the heart of how that happened.
We have heard and all believe that the BBC is a respected journalistic organisation, but this is probably the biggest crisis it faces because right now we can honestly say that it faked the news.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the government would begin the 10-year BBC charter review “imminently”. She added:
"The concerns that have been raised are serious in and of themselves, but some in the House have gone even further, suggesting that the BBC is institutionally biased. It should not be lost on us that the BBC has faced criticism from all sides for its coverage of highly contentious and contested issues."
Sir Julian Smith, the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, told the debate:
“There has been a total lack of deftness in dealing with talent-related issues and other scandals over the past few years. There are also governance issues with BBC Studios — a commercial organisation with separate whistleblowing schemes — hiding behind the BBC brand.”
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