THE BBC board member who Emily Maitlis described as an “active agent of the Tory party" liked a tweet criticising the SNP by mistake, according to the chairman of the BBC.
Richard Sharp – a Tory donor installed at the head of the BBC by Boris Johnson – was being questioned by MPs at a meeting of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee.
SNP MP John Nicolson asked if Sir Robbie Gibb’s liking of an anti-SNP tweet was appropriate given his position as the BBC board member for England.
Gibb, Theresa May’s former communications director, was an active member of the BBC board when he liked a tweet by Tory MP Andrew Bowie which stated: “What a shambles ... Very pleased this will be the SNP's last few years in government”.
Recently @maitlis described BBC Board member Robbie Gibb as a “Tory agent” within the BBC. Today I’ve been pressing the BBC Chair on impartiality. What does he make of this blatant party political expression by Robbie Gibb? He apparently pressed ‘like’ by mistake.….@CommonsDCMS pic.twitter.com/Y1wfzHPMrQ
— JOHN NICOLSON M.P. (@MrJohnNicolson) September 6, 2022
Sharp initially claimed he had been “unaware” of the tweet until Nicolson raised it. He then reflected whether Nicolson himself had acted with impartiality during his time as a journalist for the BBC.
He said: “I can only imagine, Mr Nicolson, that when you were at the BBC, although you had political views, you also operated with impartiality.”
Nicolson replied that he would “never have dreamt of liking a tweet that was party political like that". He added: "It would have been quite improper.”
Sharp then stated that Gibb did not like the tweet purposefully.
“Robbie Gibb did not in fact like that tweet,” he added. “Although you’re correct in terms of the data element.
“What actually happened was in scrolling through tweets his finger actually passed over that particular area of the telephone, which meant that the heart got touched. But he did not like that tweet specifically.”
Sharp was also pressed on Emily Maitlis’s comments regarding Gibb’s membership of the board after the former Newsnight presenter said he was an “active agent of the Tory party” during her lecture at last month’s Edinburgh TV Festival.
Sharp said that he was “disappointed” in the former BBC presenter’s comments: “Just to be categorical he does not operate on the board as an agent of the Conservative party. That was completely wrong.
"It was one of the errors that Emily Maitlis made and I’m very disappointed that she made that particular point.”
Sharp, alongside BBC director-general Tim Davie, were also quizzed regarding the corporation’s handling of a government complaint about Maitlis’ Newsnight monologue on Dominic Cummings's alleged flouting of lockdown rules.
During her lecture Maitlis stated that the BBC had immediately “sought to pacify” a complaint from the government and expressed concern at whether this amounted to impartiality.
However, Sharp stated that the BBC’s actions were justified.
He said: “While I thought the issues raised were worthwhile, I disagree with her view of impartiality which may mean she led with opinions, not facts.
“We found Newsnight had not appropriately addressed the issue because she led with her opinions.”
Davie – who ran for local government on the Tory ticket in the 1990s – added that the corporation had made “the right decision unequivocally”.
“I can categorically tell you that taking a call from a politician doesn’t make us say ‘we need to change something,'” he said.
“I’ve looked in detail at this. There was a proper discussion and a call was made. I’m sorry we’re in a different position to Emily but that’s what happens.”
Speaking to The National, Nicolson said the explanation for Gibb's actions was "ludicrous".
He said: "Emily Maitlis is right to be concerned about Tory pressure on the BBC. Former Tory spin doctor Robbie Gibb, a BBC board member, has liked anti-SNP propaganda.
"It's completely inappropriate and I find the BBC chair Richard Sharp's explanation, namely that Sir Robbie's hand slipped over the like button, ludicrous."
