Former Tory adviser position on BBC board ‘untenable’ – John Swinney

The first minister has said the continuation of a former Tory adviser’s position on the BBC board is “untenable”.

It comes as the leadership of the BBC has been called into question following the double resignation of director-general Tim Davie and chief of news Deborah Turness.

The pair resigned on Sunday night, after a leaked memo criticised a 2024 Panorama programme which edited together two parts of a speech made by Donald Trump ahead of the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.

John Swinney was asked for his reaction to the turmoil at the BBC.

He highlighted the need for it to fulfil its duty as an “impartial, independent, authoritative public service broadcaster”.

When asked about Robbie Gibb, who previously served as director of communications for Conservative prime minister Theresa May before joining the BBC Board in May 2021, the first minister suggested he should resign.

Speaking to LBC, Swinney said: “Robbie Gibb is a very clearly associated party political figure on the board of the BBC. If the BBC wants to be viewed as an impartial organisation that’s authoritative, that reflects the independence of commentary, then I think Robbie Gibb’s position is untenable.”

In a letter to BBC staff, Davie said that while overall the BBC was “delivering well”, he said that “have been some mistakes” and that “I have to take ultimate responsibility”.

The row over the Trump speech edit comes not long after criticisms surrounding a Gaza documentary, which had connections to Hamas, and the livestreaming of comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, where the rap duo lead chants of “death to the IDF”.

BBC chair Samir Shah has pushed back against some coverage of the leaked memo about the Panorama programme, describing some interpretations as “not true” in a letter to Westminster’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

On the editing of Trump’s speech, he said: “We accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgement.”

He went on to set out several steps being taken to strengthen the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee.

Trump has now threatened to sue the BBC, with his legal team describing the programme as  “false and defamatory”.

The BBC has long been under fire for perceived institutional bias.

Swinney said the resignations suggested there were “clearly doubts” about its impartiality.

He added: “The BBC has obviously got to address these issues and to make sure that in all of its output, it takes forward that impartial approach.

“There’ll be things about BBC coverage that I object to and that I don’t like and that I don’t particularly appreciate. But the BBC’s got a duty to make sure that it applies those principles of independence, authority, and impartiality in all that it does.”