This isn’t them making ‘mistakes’.

I’ve told this story before, but between 2017 and 2019 I was a regular in-studio guest on BBC Breakfast which I of course never discussed on here at the time. I ultimately quit the rota - I did the newspaper review as an historian and political commentator - after making a number of complaints about government interference in the broadcasts.

After Grenfell happened, I was due to go on one weekend and on arrival was told by a producer that I wasn’t to mention the controversy over May not having met the families quickly enough as ‘Downing Street was unhappy’ with BBC coverage and they’d had a call. This was during Robbie Gibb’s time as Director of Comms at No 10 (Robbie Gibb who ultimately ended up on the board). I did it anyway, and the presenter (who shall remain nameless), but if anyone was forensic enough to be arsed to look it up you’d know interjected strongly.

I ‘got away’ with that one, but later on the producers started trying to prevent us selecting our own stories to cover. You usually arrived at Media City around 6am and went through the papers for two separate hits at around 720 and 820. When the 2019 GE got closer pre-populated grids started to appear with stories picked for you, to ensure you didn’t pick ones that would annoy No 10.

Also pre 2019 GE regional newspaper reviews were largely axed (I also did the one on Radio Merseyside). Again, this had the effect of reducing content the BBC couldn’t directly control.

I quit the panel (they pay you) and made a complaint over continuing interference on the national TV one in 2019. I was promised an investigation by the Impartiality Unit but it never happened.

In the longer-term, the BBC has an inglorious track record - Orgreave, Corbyn at the cenotaph, Johnson at the cenotaph, Newsnight, platforming Curtis Yarvin and Nick Griffin, etc etc. It’s well worth reading Tom Mills’ BBC: Myth of a Public Service.