Labour calls for resignation of Number 10 ally on BBC board
The Labour Party has called for the resignation of a BBC director and Number 10 ally after it emerged that he had tried to block a senior editorial appointment.
The FT reported that Robbie Gibb, Theresa May’s former communications director, warned the broadcaster after Jess Brammar, former editor of HuffPost UK and deputy editor of BBC Newsnight, became the prime candidate to take charge of its news channels.
In messages to the BBC’s director for news and current affairs, Fran Unsworth, Gibb said that the government’s “fragile trust in the BBC will be shattered” if the appointment was made, the paper reported.
Unsworth was told that she “cannot make this appointment”, it added.
Deputy leader of the Opposition Angela Rayner called for Gibb to be sacked as a result of the claims.
“This is Tory cronyism at the heart of the BBC, with Robbie Gibb in post to influence the BBC and further the interests of the government and Conservative Party. He should resign and if he won’t resign he should be sacked”, she wrote.
It appears that Gibb’s intervention follows a row between Brammar and the government over the treatment of one of her reporters when she was Huff Post editor.
After being approached with a series of questions by a HuffPost reporter in January, equalities minister Kemi Badenoch launched into a Twitter attack on the site, saying it had a a vendetta against her.
Brammar then defended her reporter and attempted to force the Cabinet Office to investigate Badenoch’s conduct.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC doesn’t comment on ongoing recruitment processes, which are the responsibility of the executive, but for the record, no recruitment process has been blocked. People should wait for the outcome which will be announced in due course.
“And as a general principle, board members are able to discuss issues with other board members or senior executives. These principles were adhered to.”
Gibb has yet to comment on the allegations.