Starmer pressures the BBC after Trump’s threats news
Published On 12/11/2025
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Last update: 22:28 (Mecca time)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) must “put its internal affairs in order”, after US President Donald Trump threatened to sue it over the way it edited scenes from a speech of his dating back to 2021.
Starmer’s statements in Parliament, today, Wednesday, came in response to a question about whether he would ask Trump to abandon his threat to file a lawsuit and demand $1 billion in compensation from the BBC, which obtains its funding through a mandatory tax on British families who watch television.
The British Prime Minister said, “Let me be clear, I believe in a strong, independent BBC,” and added, “Some would prefer the BBC not to exist, including those who sit there,” referring to opposition Conservative MPs.
He continued, saying, “When mistakes are made, they (the BBC) have to rearrange their internal affairs.”
Right-wing media attack
Since the beginning of this month, the BBC has been subjected to a series of attacks from the right-wing media, which accused it of being biased towards the Palestinians in its coverage of the Israeli war of annihilation in Gaza.
As a result of this campaign, the Director-General of the BBC and the Chief Executive of News resigned. The authority said yesterday, Monday, that its editing of scenes from Trump’s speech had resulted in an “error of judgment.”
A BBC spokesman said that the corporation would “respond directly in a timely manner” to Trump’s threat, and he said he was committed to suing it.
Trump’s lawyers said the BBC must withdraw the documentary containing those scenes by next Friday and issue an apology, or face a lawsuit.
The documentary, which was broadcast before the US elections last year, brought together 3 clips of Trump’s speech, which critics said left the impression that he was inciting the riots that occurred on January 6, 2021.
Trump has been accused of filing a number of lawsuits to suppress criticism in the American media since his return to the presidency in January 2025.
