'Effective censorship!' BBC accused of 'drip-feeding one-sided pro-trans stories' as bias row sparks parliamentary probe

The dossier claims the LGBT+ desk used by the broadcaster's news programmes is promoting pro-trans beliefs and "keeping other perspectives off air".

The memo goes on to say this has resulted in "a constant drip-feed of one-sided stories".

The BBC has come under fire this week after it was claimed in a 19-page leaked report to have edited a speech by Donald Trump in an episode of Panorama broadcast the week before last year's US election.

The programme allegedly spliced clips together from sections of the US president’s speech on January 6, 2021, to make it appear he told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to "fight like hell".

President Trump instead insisted that he would walk with his supporters "to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard".

The dossier, put together by former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, Michael Prescott, concluded that Panorama had made Mr Trump "say things [he] never actually said" by "mangling" footage from the start of his speech with a segment from nearly an hour later.

A spokesman for the broadcaster said: "While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully.

"Michael Prescott is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated."

The BBC's Arabic news channel has also been accused of having "minimised Israeli suffering" in the war against Gaza in order to "paint Israel as the aggressor", according to a leaked internal report.

Claims and allegations against Israel were said to have been "raced to air" without appropriate checks, while BBC Arabic gave more time to statements from Hamas.

The memo also says the channel had "a desire always to believe the worst about Israel", while giving "unjustifiable weight" to Hamas' claims about the death toll in Gaza.

Now, the BBC is facing a parliamentary inquiry after the Culture, Media and Sport Committee wrote to the corporation's chairman, Samir Shah, demanding information about the way Mr Trump's speech was edited.

Dame Caroline Dinenage, chairwoman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said the corporation had "serious questions to answer".

Mr Prescott will give evidence to the committee on "concerns about editorial standards at the BBC" on November 12.

The evidence session "will give MPs a chance to explore the BBC’s handling of editorial standards further with Mr Prescott" ahead of the Government reviewing the broadcaster's Royal Charter, which is up for renewal at the end of 2027.