Tim Davie’s predecessor as BBC director general is leading calls to end political appointments to the broadcaster’s board amid concerns over the influence of Robbie Gibb.
Tony Hall said political involvement needed to be removed from appointing the members of the board and its chair.
MPs, staff members and the main BBC union have all called for Gibb – Theresa May’s former communications chief, who has previously described himself as a “proper Thatcherite Conservative” – to be removed from the board.
It follows claims he has used his place on the BBC board and its editorial standards body to put pressure on the corporation from within over alleged liberal bias. Gibb was placed on the board by Boris Johnson’s administration.
BBC sources have disputed that Gibb has disproportionate influence, noting he is one of more than a dozen voices in board meetings.
Lord Hall said upcoming talks over renewing the BBC’s charter were “a fantastic opportunity for Lisa Nandy [the culture secretary] … to make some reforms that remove as much politics as you can from the BBC”.
He told the Guardian: “There’s always going to be politics, because it’s a big organisation spending a lot of money – but she can take some of the obvious politics out of it. Perception is often all and it’s the perception of someone coming with their own political views which is the problem, whoever it might be.”
Insiders have claimed Gibb pushed bias accusations made in a memo by Michael Prescott, a public relations executive and former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC).
The memo eventually led to the resignations of Davie and Deborah Turness, the head of BBC News, after a difficult gathering of the board last Thursday. Some potential candidates to replace Davie are said to be wary of the post because of Gibb’s presence.
The departures have left the BBC without a leader as it heads into crucial talks with the government over the renewal of its charter.
Hall urged Nandy to bolster the BBC’s independence in the face of political attacks by putting its 10-year charter on a permanent footing. “The independence of the BBC really matters,” he said. “It’s not a state broadcaster. It’s a public broadcaster on behalf of all of us.
“If you don’t renew the charter, the BBC comes to an end. It stops. It is no more. I really hope that this government, who believe in the BBC, will say ‘we’ll give it a charter for ever’ – and then find other ways of making the BBC accountable.”
Nandy has said she would examine scrapping political appointments to the broadcaster’s board as part of charter renewal talks. She said political appointments had “damaged confidence and trust in the BBC’s impartiality”.
The Guardian understands that Gibb’s place on the EGSC allowed him to unilaterally order research on issues that worried him. This has raised concerns that the research enabled him to confront the broadcaster with a flow of claims of liberal bias.
This is disputed. It is understood that research was generally commissioned by the whole committee, while editorial leaders were aware of research ordered by Gibb. All research was eventually discussed by everyone. Gibb raised at least one issue that suggested a rightwing bias, in a story on striking rail workers.
Urgent changes are now being made to the EGSC, which featured five people. Three of the five were Davie, Turness and Samir Shah, the BBC chair. The changes are expected to dilute Gibb’s role.
Defenders of Gibb say he wants to protect the BBC, that he did not want Davie to resign and that he has backed the licence fee. Shah has dismissed claims of a rightwing campaign to destabilise the BBC from within as fanciful.
The BBC has acknowledged failings raised in Prescott’s memo but also rejected many of the allegations of bias, pointing to action already being taken on many of the concerns. It has vowed to review the issues he raised.
It included criticism of the way Panorama broadcast edited footage of a Donald Trump speech, which led the US president to threaten a $1bn legal action. The BBC has apologised personally to the president but is still awaiting his response to its decision to reject his legal threat’s assertion that the programme was defamatory.
Bectu, the biggest union in the BBC, joined calls for Gibb to be removed. Philippa Childs, the union’s head, said: “The culture secretary has been very clear in her support for the BBC and its independence. It is time for her to demonstrate that by acting now to ensure the most impartial board possible for the organisation – that means Robbie Gibb has to go.”
