Sending licence fee money to Mar-a-Lago not ‘smart’, shadow minister suggests after Donald Trump threatened to sue BBC
The shadow home secretary said it would be a “no brainer” thing to send BBC license fee money “to Mar-a-Lago” after Donald Trump threatened to sue the company for up to $5 billion.
Chris Philp said he believed the chairman was on the “wrong side” in his fight with the BBC but did not think it would be a good idea to use license fee money to resolve the issue.
Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One over the weekend that he would sue the company “probably next week for damages in the range of $1 billion to $5 billion.”
His comments followed an apology from the BBC on Thursday: Panorama The editing of Mr. Trump’s Capitol speech on Jan. 6, 2021, had given the “mistaken impression that President Trump was directly calling for violent action.”
The broadcaster apologized and said the inclusion of the speech was an “error of judgment” but refused to pay financial compensation after the US president’s lawyers threatened to sue for $1 billion if the retraction and apology were not published.
Asked whether license fee payers’ money should go to the White House, Mr Philp told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “No, I don’t think so.
“So look, we’re all working hard and paying our licensing fees. I don’t think it would be a smart thing to send some of that to Mar-a-Lago.” The historic Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, is owned by Mr. Trump.
He has previously described Mr Trump as the “wrong side” of the debate and said “we expect a much higher standard from our national broadcaster”.
This comes after the US president said he would speak to Sir Keir Starmer about the issue at the weekend.
Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood refused to comment on talks between the Prime Minister and the president but told the same BBC program that the government supported the company.
He called on the broadcaster to “put your house in order”, adding: “But we support the BBC and believe it has an important role to play in our national life and stands for impartial news in an increasingly controversial world.”
The BBC said on Saturday that there had been no further contact with Mr Trump’s lawyers.
A spokesman said: “We have had no further contact with President Trump’s lawyers at this point. Our position remains.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey claimed license fee payers would be “shocked by Donald Trump coming to pick his own pockets”.
Mr. Trump has a history of suing U.S. news organizations and has settled a legal dispute with CBS News over an interview with former vice president Kamala Harris that aired on 60 Minutes.
The Panorama scandal saw the resignation of two of the BBC’s most senior executives: director general Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness.
The programme, which aired a week before the 2024 US election results, stitched together two clips to reveal Mr Trump telling the crowd: “We’re going to march to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we’re fighting. We’re fighting like crazy.”
BBC announced that the series will not be broadcast Panorama episode “Trump: A Second Chance?” again and posted a retraction on the show’s webpage on Thursday.
