THE UK Government has come out in defence of the man described as an “active agent of the Conservative party” who sits on the BBC board.
Robbie Gibb, who was Theresa May’s former director of communications at No 10 and helped establish GB News, was apparently referred to by journalist Emily Maitlis during a lecture in Edinburgh.
Maitlis, the former BBC anchor, claimed that Gibb was an “active agent” of the Tories despite his role acting as the “arbiter of BBC impartiality”. She said there was “Tory cronyism at the heart of the BBC”.
During his time as prime minister, Boris Johnson appointed a former Tory local election candidate, Tim Davie, as BBC director-general, and Tory donor Richard Sharp the broadcaster’s chair.
Nadine Dorries, the culture and media secretary who is fiercely loyal to Johnson, has frequently spoken about the need to reform the BBC.
In January, Dorries told the Commons that the BBC “needs to address issues around impartiality”, and in May she launched a charter review to examine what reforms were needed to ensure greater impartiality at the broadcaster.
In light of Dorries’s (below) past insistence on the need for a neutral BBC, The National asked the UK Government if action would be taken or a probe launched into the allegations against Gibb.
A spokesperson from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) insisted that Gibb was in fact making a “valuable contribution” to a push for greater impartiality.
The DCMS spokesperson said: "Sir Robbie Gibb is an experienced broadcaster who spent many years working in the media sector, including as the head of BBC Westminster and the deputy editor of Newsnight.
"He was appointed to the BBC Board following a fair and open competition, after demonstrating his commitment to the independence, mission and public purposes of the BBC, and the rules state political activity should not be a bar to appointment.
"The BBC's director-general has acknowledged the corporation needs to improve the impartiality of its news output and Sir Robbie's vast experience will make a valuable contribution to that aim.”
Gibb has previous faced calls to step down after he attempted to interfere in the hiring of Jess Brammar to oversee the BBC’s news channels’ output.
The former Tory staffer told BBC news and current affairs director Fran Unsworth in a text message that she “cannot make this appointment”, according to the FT.
Gibb, whose brother Nick is a Tory minister, reportedly said the government’s “fragile trust in the BBC will be shattered” if Brammar were to be hired.
The news led Labour to call for him to be removed post amid claims of Conservative cronyism.
