The Liberal Democrats are demanding the Prime Minister get on the
phone to Trump to stop the President suing the BBC for $1
billion.
Leader and Culture, Media and Sport Spokesperson have written to the Prime
Minister arguing that the President is trying to “destroy the BBC
and take the hard-earned money” of licence fee payers. The party
is calling on Starmer to leverage his special relationship with
Trump to get him to block the lawsuit.
The letter follows Davey's PMQ this week, which challenged
Starmer to guarantee that President Trump will not get a single
penny from British licence fee payers.
Davey said that Trump's attacks on the BBC go “well beyond” the
mistakes made by Panorama and constitute a “broader assault” on
the free press – continuing the work of the President in
crippling America's public broadcasters and suing news outlets
including the Wall Street Journal.
The Liberal Democrats said Starmer must act on his commitment to
“always stand[ing] up for a strong, independent BBC” and stand
against the man trying to take down the strength and independence
of the British broadcaster. Trump has imposed a deadline of 10pm
today [Friday 14 November] for the BBC to respond.
In the letter, , Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to urge you to pick up the phone to President
Trump and tell him to drop his threat of a ludicrous $1 billion
lawsuit against the BBC, before his deadline of 10pm tomorrow.
It is clear that President Trump is trying to destroy the BBC and
take the hard-earned money of the UK's 23.8 million
licence-fee-paying households. This is part of his broader
assault on the free press, which has seen him cripple America's
public broadcasters with funding cuts, ban journalists from the
Pentagon, and bring a $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street
Journal.
Trump's attacks on the BBC go well beyond the mistakes over last
year's Panorama broadcast – for which the BBC Chair has rightly
apologised. President Trump has smeared BBC journalists as
“corrupt”, while his White House press secretary described the
BBC as “100% fake news” and urged everyone to watch GB News.
The government must stand up for Britain, stand up for the free
press, protect licence fee payers, and defend the impartiality
and independence of the BBC.
The BBC belongs to the British people. It is the world's number
one source of trusted news, and an essential part of our
democracy. Its strength lies in its independence and
impartiality, so the government must protect it from being
bullied and undermined – whether by President Trump or anyone
else.
We urge you – before Trump's deadline of 10pm tomorrow – to call
the President and tell him in no uncertain terms to stop his
attack on one of our country's most precious institutions. You
should make clear that there is no chance of him getting a single
penny of licence fee payers' money.
At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, you said “I will always
stand up for a strong, independent BBC.” This is the moment to do
just that.
Yours sincerely,
, Leader of the Liberal Democrats
, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson
for Culture, Media and Sport
