{"id":346779,"date":"2025-12-16T10:52:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T10:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/uncategorized\/starmer-urged-to-stand-up-for-bbc-against-trumps-outrageous-10bn-lawsuit-uk-politics-live-politics\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T10:52:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T10:52:10","slug":"starmer-urged-to-stand-up-for-bbc-against-trumps-outrageous-10bn-lawsuit-uk-politics-live-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=346779","title":{"rendered":"Starmer urged to stand up for BBC against Trump\u2019s \u2018outrageous\u2019 $10bn lawsuit \u2013 UK politics live | Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Starmer urged to tell Trump his anti-BBC lawsuit ‘unacceptable, as president quotes Badenoch to back his ‘fake news’ claim<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n

Good morning. Ministers are due to publish today a green paper on BBC<\/a> charter renewal, setting out plans for how the corporation will be funded into the 2030s. With fewer and fewer people watching free-to-air TV, the licence fee is getting harder to justify, but there is no consensus as to what should replace it.<\/p>\n

However, within the BBC at least, there probably is a consensus that the last thing licence fee payers want to see their money spent on is a multimillion-pound compensation payment to Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This has come to a head because the president has finally filed his lawsuit demanding damages worth up to to $10bn for the way a BBC Panorama documentary edited a clip from the speech he gave to supporters on 6 January 2021 before they attacked the US Capitol. Here is our overnight story by Callum Jones <\/strong>and Jeremy Barr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Kemi Badenoch,<\/strong> the Conservative leader, has regularly accused the BBC of being biased on particular issues and, when news of the Panorama edit became a political controversy (more than a year after the programme was actually broadcast), she merrily joined the chorus of people attacking the BBC over the way the programme was put together. What British voters made of her comments is not entirely clear, but she seems to have impressed the president\u2019s legal team, who quote her in the lawsuit<\/a> to support their case. They say:<\/p>\n

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<\/svg>Conservative party leader and member of parliament Kemi Badenoch said that the distortion of the speech by the Panorama documentary was \u201cabsolutely shocking,\u201d adding: \u201cThat is fake news, actually putting different things together to make something look different from what it actually was.\u201d She continued: \u201cAnd I do think heads should roll. Whoever it was who did that should be sacked, that\u2019s what Tim Davie should be doing, identifying who put out misinformation, and sacking them.\u201d Badenoch added: \u201cThe public need to be able to trust our public broadcaster .. . They should not be telling us things that are not true. This is a corporation that needs to hold itself to the highest standards, and that means that when we see people doing the wrong thing, they should be punished, they should be sacked.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Keir Starmer has, up to now, done his best to avoid getting embroiled in this row, arguing that the BBC is operationally independent and that this is a matter for the corporation and the president to settle themselves. Although there were suggestions at one point that he and Trump would speak about the dispute, that does not seem to have happened. However, he may find it hard to remain uninvolved as this goes on. The lawsuit has been filed as there is evidence in other areas \u2013 trade policy, for example <\/a>\u2013 that US-UK relations are no longer quite as warm as they were at the time of the state visit.<\/p>\n

But Ed Davey<\/strong>, the Lib Dem leader, is more than happy to speak out. He has regularly urged Starmer to be more robust with Trump in public, over a range of issues, and this morning he said the PM should tell Trump his compensation demand is unacceptable. He said:<\/p>\n

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<\/svg>Keir Starmer needs to stand up for the BBC against Trump\u2019s outrageous legal threat and protect licence fee payers from being hit in the pocket.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has clearly set out they want to interfere in our democracy, which includes undermining our national broadcaster.<\/p>\n

The prime minister needs to make clear this is unacceptable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here is the agenda for the day.<\/p>\n

9.30am:<\/em> Keir Starmer<\/a> chairs cabinet.<\/p>\n

10am:<\/em> Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor and former PM, resumes giving evidence to the Covid inquiry about the economic response to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

11am:<\/em> John Healey, the defence secretary, hosts a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group with his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius.<\/p>\n

11am:<\/em> Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, holds a press conference.<\/p>\n

2pm:<\/em> Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, gives evidence to the Commons foreign affairs committee.<\/p>\n

Late afternoon:<\/em> Peers vote on the employment rights bill, with business groups urging Tory and cross-bench peers to drop their opposition to the one measure that stopped it being passed last week.<\/a><\/p>\n

We are also getting 17 written ministerial statements today, which is what tends to happen shortly before a holiday recess, as ministers clear the decks. Today\u2019s statements cover the BBC charter review, sentencing reform and planning reform, among other topics.<\/p>\n

If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can\u2019t read all the messages BTL, but if you put \u201cAndrew\u201d in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.<\/p>\n

If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X<\/a>, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.<\/p>\n

I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can\u2019t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.<\/p>\n