The BBC chair, Richard Sharp, is under increasing pressure to quit after the corporation apologised over its handling of the impartiality row surrounding the Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker.
Keir Starmer called on the government to examine how it could protect a “truly independent and impartial” BBC.
He told ITV News: “I think Richard Sharp’s position is increasingly untenable. I think most people watching the complete mess of the last few days would say how on earth is he still in position and Gary Lineker has been taken off air? This is a mess of the BBC’s own making. They need to sort it out and sort it out fast.”
Downing Street declined to say whether Rishi Sunak had confidence in the BBC chair after the corporation announced that Lineker was to return to presenting sport after he was taken off air for criticising ministers’ language when discussing asylum policy.
On his flight to the US, Sunak offered a lukewarm defence of the man who was once his boss at Goldman Sachs and who was later recruited by Sunak as an unpaid government adviser when he was chancellor during the Covid pandemic.
Even before the Lineker row erupted, Sharp faced calls for his resignation because when applying for the job of BBC chair, he did not disclose his role in helping Boris Johnson get access to a loan facility, reportedly worth about £800,000.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said Sunak was waiting for a review of the Office for Commissioner for Public Appointments into Sharp’s conduct when he applied for the role. “We will await the outcome of that review and will of course provide any assistance with that process,” he added.
No 10 initially suggested it would not be Sunak’s responsibility to fire a BBC chair, before correcting itself when it was pointed out that the corporation’s governing charter said otherwise.
Tim Davie, the director general of the BBC, apologised on Monday for the widespread disruption to sports programming over the weekend and announced an independent review of the corporation’s internal social media guidelines.
Downing Street also declined to say whether the prime minister had confidence in Davie after the impartiality row, stressing that the choice of BBC director general was a matter for the corporation.
Asked about Sunak’s position on the licence fee, the spokesperson said: “We remain committed to the licence fee for the rest of the current charter. But we’ve been clear that the BBC’s funding model faces major challenges due to changes in the way people consume media and it’s necessary to look at ways to ensure long-term sustainability.”
