'BBC's lost all credibility!' Lee Anderson shuts down GB News guest for claiming Donald Trump edit was a 'drop in standards'

Issuing an apology to the President on Thursday evening, the BBC called its doctoring of his January 6 speech during an episode of Panorama an "error of judgement", declaring the programme will "not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms".

However, the broadcaster has rejected to compensate Mr Trump ahead of his imposed deadline of 10pm tonight.

Delivering his verdict on the BBC's editing, Lee told his GB News guests: "I think it's awful what they've done, splicing an edit, it makes somebody come out unfavourable and actually distorts the truth, which is something you would never think the BBC would do."

Mr Twelves disagreed, responding: "I think in that dossier there were, I think, 10 or 11 different things, not just the Trump thing.

"There were other reporting things that were quite clearly a drop in editorial standards, what you'd expect from any journalist."

Interjecting Mr Twelves, Lee exclaimed: "Whoa whoa, whoa, hold on. A drop in editorial standards? It's not a drop in standards, is it? It's cheating, it's wrong, and it's bordering on criminal."

The commentator hit back: "It was a violation of editorial standards, editorial standards are the guidelines they operate on. I don't know if it's bordering on criminal. They have set editorial standards, as GB News and ITV do."

As Lee asked "well why would they do it?", Mr Twelves added: "I don't know, I think the production company that made it have got the blame, but then they've revoked the blame and it's kind of been passed around."

Criticising the BBC further, Lee stated: "The BBC was once probably the most respected broadcaster in the world. It is the mouthpiece of the United Kingdom that goes all around the world.

"And it should be a place of comfort, a place of safety. It should be an organisation that you can trust on 100 per cent. But with this, I think we've lost almost all credibility for the BBC."

Defending the broadcaster, Mr Twelves argued: "I think the BBC is such a large organisation, you're not going to hold BBC Radio Nottingham to blame for what BBC Arabia or what the BBC News Service essentially have done. The BBC is huge.

"People forget this, it is massive. You've got the local radio stations, you've got documentaries team, you've got the investigations team, you've got the World Service, you've got the international channels, it's such a large organisation.

"I think it's unfair to go after the local radio stations that do great work, that isn't their fault. Local radio is dying, it is excellent."

Putting the question to The Spectator's Lara Brown, Lee asked for her verdict of the BBC's edit, to which she concluded: "I can't speak on their behalf, but I can't think of a single reason why you'd make that edit if you weren't trying to make a deliberately anti-Trump film, and you weren't trying to deliberately put a message forward that Trump is a threat to democracy, which is what that whole documentary was trying to show, and that was the perfect proof."