Bectu calls for urgent response from BBC Director General on impartiality saga

Commenting on the escalating furore surrounding the BBC’s decision to ask Gary Lineker to step down from presenting Match of the Day, Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said:

“Bectu has always been a staunch defender of the BBC, and we are hugely proud of the important work our members do every day. However, the corporation’s handling of this crisis has been hugely disappointing and will likely prove disastrous for its reputation.

“We wrote to the Director General weeks ago outlining our concerns on the corporation’s impartiality guidelines and Richard Sharp.

“Our members and no doubt many others who work at the BBC will be rightly confused why those at the highest levels of the corporation are apparently immune to the stringent guidelines applied to everyone else. Our thoughts are with all BBC staff at what we know is an incredibly challenging time, and we are here to support our members however we can.

“We fully understand the depth of feeling and why some freelancers will elect to not work on BBC sport programmes today or choose to join protests. The strength of feeling from both staff and members of the public should indicate to the corporation that its handling of the issue has been a massive misstep.

“It’s imperative that ourselves and the public are now given clear and urgent answers. Will the Director General make clear why the impartiality guidelines have been so inconsistently applied here, and will the Chairman be asked to step down from his responsibilities while investigations concerning his own impartiality remain live?”