BBC board member quits over 'governance issues' at top of corporation
Shumeet Banerji has stepped down following a series of scandals at the BBC.
A BBC board member has stepped down over what he claims are "governance issues" at the top of the corporation.
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Shumeet Banerji said in a letter that he was "not consulted" about the events that sparked the departures of the director general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness.
The BBC said in a statement that Banerji confirmed his resignation on Friday.
The top executives at the BBC left in the wake of criticism that a BBC Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by US President Donald Trump.
A leaked internal memo said an edition of Panorama broadcast last October spliced together two sections of President Trump's speech to give a misleading impression of what he actually said.
The damning 19-page dossier said the Panorama episode “completely misled” viewers by showing the President telling his supporters he was going to the Capitol building with them to "fight like hell".
Read more: BBC investigated by US regulator over ‘doctored’ Trump speech
Read more: BBC boss Samir Shah tells staff Donald Trump has "no basis" to sue over Panorama speech edit
In reality, the President said he was going to walk with his supporters "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."The programme made last year explored Mr Trump's role in the January 6 riots, when more than 1,000 of his supporters stormed the Capitol.
Since then, pressure has mounted on the corporation over the effectiveness of the BBC board, which is tasked with the oversight and strategy of the corporation.
Mr Banerji has seemingly taken aim at chairman Samir Shah and other board members in his resignation letter.
Mr Shah and board members Sir Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson are due to give evidence to the Culture Media and Sport Committee of MPs on Monday as pressure mounts on the scandal-hit corporation.
The US broadcast regulator is now also investigating the BBC over claims of ‘misleading and deceptive conduct’ over the editing of a speech by Donald Trump.
The Federal Communications Commission, is looking into the Panorama footage and has written to BBC bosses to find out whether the programme was made available to any US audiences.
Several Conservative and Reform MPs have joined the American leader in calling for a reset, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage accusing the disgraced BBC chief of "double standards" over his handling of the crisis.