BBC staffer admits workers pressured to ‘apologise for being white and middle-class’ as bias crisis deepens

A former BBC employee says staff felt pressured to "apologise for being white and middle class".

The ex-worker, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed they had not worked anywhere else before "where people went around apologising so much for who they were".

They told The Telegraph: "Culturally, it also became a place where you felt you had to apologise for being white and middle class – you felt your privilege very keenly.

"I generally think that’s a good thing, we should all be more aware of how good we’ve had it, but there is a point where experience and authority should hold sway, regardless of whether it’s coming from someone white and middle class."

GB News has contacted the broadcaster for comment.

The BBC is facing growing criticism after a leaked memo claimed the corporation had edited a speech by Donald Trump in an episode of Panorama broadcast the week before last year's US election.

The 19-page leaked report complied by Michael Prescott, former external advisor to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC), claimed the broadcaster had 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 has threatened a $1billion [around £759,750,000] law suit against the corporation.

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In a letter to the broadcaster, Mr Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, set out a number of demands including "a full and fair retraction" of the documentary and "any and all other false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading, and inflammatory statements about President Trump in as conspicuous a manner as they were originally published", as well as an apology and compensation.

A BBC spokesman said: "We will review the letter and respond directly in due course."

BBC chairman Samir Shah has apologised for an "error of judgment" over the editing in the documentary and two of the corporation’s most senior figures – chief executive of BBC News Deborah Turness and director-general Tim Davie – resigned from their positions on Sunday.

Nigel Farage revealed he spoke to President Trump about the BBC on Friday, telling a press conference in London yesterday: "He just said to me 'is this how you treat your best ally'.

"Quite a powerful comment isn't it. There has been too much going for too long."

The Reform UK leader added that the broadcaster had been "institutionally biased for decades".

The Prime Minister's official spokesman yesterday insisted the BBC is not corrupt nor institutionally biased.

He said: "On the question of is the BBC corrupt? No.

"The BBC has a vital role in an age of disinformation… where there’s a clear argument for a robust, impartial British news service to deliver, and that case is stronger than ever."

It comes as the Government is set to begin a review of the BBC’s Royal Charter, which sets out the corporation’s governance and public mission.

The review into the BBC’s licence fee model will look at alternative funding for the broadcaster’s operations for when its current charter period ends in December 2027.