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Sir keir starmer Pressure to intervene is growing donald trump“derogatory” Attempt to sue BBC for 10 billion dollars In response to edits to a speech he gave before the 2021 attack on the Capitol.
BBC Said Documents were filed in the court late on Monday night $5bn (£3.7bn) in damages sought in a federal court in Miami defamationPlus the same amount for a claim for violation of trade practices.
President Trump’s lawyers debate his portrayal in an edit that aired in a panorama The documentary, released a week before the results of the 2024 US election, was “false and offensive” and he also said that ” BBC A deliberate and malicious attempt was made to completely mislead its audience across the world.”
The BBC confirmed this in a brief statement on Tuesday planning to fight the caseA spokesperson for the corporation said: “As we have previously made clear, we will defend this matter, We are not going to comment further on ongoing legal proceedings,”
A number of senior political figures have called on the Prime Minister to speak to Mr Trump and stand up to the BBC in the face of the President’s “outrageous legal threats”.
Former Culture Secretary Sir John WhittingdaleThe previous BBC charter negotiator expressed surprise at Sir Keir did not take advantage of the opportunity in advance Trying to convince the US President not to proceed with their legal action.
talking to IndependentHe said: “In the end, this is our national broadcaster we are talking about and it is extremely damaging for this to happen.
“I think the action is largely symbolic because it would be very difficult donald trump To prove the loss, but it should never have gotten to this point.
“The Prime Minister is supposed to have this strong relationship with the President and he should have intervened in the conversation with him before this happened.
“He definitely needs to get on the phone to the president about this now. It’s bad for the BBC, bad for Britain’s reputation and bad for Trump himself.”
Sir Keir had been expected to speak to Trump about the BBC after the scandal broke and the US president had previously threatened to sue, but after a delay of almost a week, their subsequent conversation only discussed a possible peace deal for Ukraine.
It is understood the two leaders have not spoken in the 24 hours since news of Mr Trump’s lawsuit broke, with a spokesman for the Prime Minister insisting “any legal action is a matter for the BBC”.
The official said, “We will always defend the principle of a strong, independent BBC as a trusted and credible national broadcaster, reporting without fear or favour. But as we have also consistently said, it is vitally important that they act to maintain trust, promptly correcting mistakes when they make them.”
Sir John’s call came as Lib Dem leader Sir ed davy Also put pressure on the Prime Minister to persuade the President to back down.
Sir Ed said the Prime Minister must “stand up for the BBC against Trump’s outrageous legal threat”.
Meanwhile Mark Damizer, former controller of BBC Radio 4 and former assistant director of BBC News, told Today program’ It would be “extremely damaging to the reputation of the BBC not to fight the case”.
He said, “This is about the independence of the BBC. And, unlike American media organizations that have spent money, the BBC does not have commercial interests that depend on President Trump being at the White House.”
“President Trump was not harmed by what the BBC did by mistake panorama edit. The program was not shown in the United States. He was hurt neither financially nor politically and the BBC must fight this matter.
Minister Stephen Kinnock said the Labor Party would “always stand up for the BBC as a vitally important institution” but stressed that it was an “independent organisation”.
But former culture secretary Baroness Nicky Morgan warned that it is the BBC’s board that “needs to get a grip”, adding that Mr Trump’s lawsuit was “inevitable”.
he told Independent: “I think it was inevitable that Trump would be sued. I doubt he would succeed. No, the Prime Minister should not intervene; the BBC is big enough to handle this mess, and their board needs to hold on.”
After the report was leaked, BBC chairman Samir Shah apologized over an “error of judgement” on the BBC’s part and admitted that editing of the 2024 documentary “gave the impression of a direct call to violent action”.
The fallout from the report led to the resignation of both director general Tim Davie and head of BBC News Deborah Turnness.
BBC News reported that before Mr Trump filed the suit, BBC lawyers had submitted a lengthy response to the president’s claims, saying “there was no malice in the editing and no harm was caused to Mr Trump by the program as he was re-elected shortly after it was broadcast”.
The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida and names the BBC, BBC Studios Distribution and BBC Studios Production as defendants.
Main streaming platforms that broadcast panoramaBBC iPlayer, and the TV channel that broadcasts it, BBC One, are not available in the US.
Mr Trump has a history of suing news organizations in the US and is engaged in legal action with them new York Times and this Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, the legal action has overshadowed negotiations for the renewal of the BBC charter, which have just begun.
The BBC is pushing for a higher license fee, which is already proving controversial.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Commons culture, media and sport committee, said: “As the charter review begins, it is deeply regrettable that panorama Edit, and because of the BBC’s failure to get a grip on this earlier they are now having to use licensees’ money to respond to President Trump’s legal action.
“The BBC is right to stand firm in the face of this legal action. But it is also a reminder of the importance of strengthening editorial processes and addressing concerns more quickly if it is to remain the world’s most trusted broadcaster.”