The BBC accused of ‘shocking’ breaches of impartiality by a senior whistleblower – after Panorama ‘doctored’ Donald Trump speech and ‘censorship’ of trans debate

The BBC has been accused of a ‘shocking’ breach of impartiality by a senior whistleblower.

Michael Prescott, who spent three years as an independent external consultant on the broadcaster’s Broadcasting Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC) before leaving his post in June, sent a damning internal dossier to the BBC Board last month after repeated warnings to the standards watchdog were ‘dismissed or ignored’.

In the memo, obtained by The Telegraph, Prescott details how the company “altered” a speech by Donald Trump in an episode of Panorama to make it look like he encouraged the Capitol Hill riots.

When it aired in October 2024, the “confused” quote “completely misled” viewers; It showed the president telling his supporters that he would march with them to the Capitol to “fight like hell,” when in fact he said he would march with them “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

The report stated that the program made the US president ‘say’ something [he] I never actually said it,” juxtaposing footage from the beginning of his speech with something he said about an hour later.

When Panorama’s ‘distortion’ was raised with BBC executives, they ‘refused to accept that standards had been breached’.

The author of the note later warned BBC chief Samir Shah about the ‘very, very dangerous precedent’ Panorama had set, but received no response.

Other complaints in the statement accuse the company of ‘effective censorship’ in its coverage of the transgender debate and also target the BBC’s Arabic-biased service in its coverage of the war in Gaza.

The whistleblower sent a damning internal dossier to the BBC Board, including director general Tim Davie (pictured), after repeated warnings to the standards watchdog were ‘dismissed or ignored’.

The memo details how the company ‘edited’ a speech Donald Trump gave in an episode of Panorama to make it look like he was encouraging the Capitol Hill riots.

It is now understood that Prescott’s report has been circulated among senior figures in Whitehall.

Former BBC adviser who wrote the report compared ‘shocking’ impartiality breaches to Crowngate scandal; this scandal, Queen Elizabeth II. Footage of Elizabeth was edited to look like she stepped out of a photo shoot, leading to the resignation of the BBC One controller.

He said he was forced to speak out because of his ‘despair at the BBC executive’s lack of action when the issues came to light’.

He sent the report to the BBC Board because repeated warnings to the EGSC had been ‘rejected or ignored’.

In the report’s cover letter he wrote: ‘I left [from the advisory role] It has deep and unresolved concerns about the BBC…in my view, the Executive has repeatedly failed to implement measures to address the issues highlighted and, on many occasions, has refused to acknowledge that there is a problem.’

He said he was shocked by the defensive attitude of Jonathan Munro, the BBC’s senior controller of news content, and Deborah Turness, director general of BBC News, when his complaints were raised.

He added: ‘Robust and transparent action plans to prevent problems from recurring are inadequate; so, as you can see, mistakes are repeated over and over again.’

The accusations come at a critical time for the BBC, which is negotiating funding with the government when its royal franchise is due to be renewed in 2027.

Culture Minister Lisa Nandy has previously said ‘no options are on the table’ regarding BBC funding.

A BBC spokesman told the Mail: ‘While we do not comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully.

‘Michael Prescott is a former advisor to a board committee on which differing views and opinions on our news are routinely discussed.’