BBC chairman Samir Shah, in a written statement to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, admitted that the editing of the video of a speech by Donald Trump was an “error of judgment” and apologized on behalf of the organization.

“Since the publication of Mr. Prescott’s memo, over 500 complaints have been made,” he further noted, stressing: “The conclusion is that the speech gave the impression of a call to violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for this error of judgement.”(sic)

He also noted that the suggestion that the BBC “tried to bury” the issues Prescott highlighted in his leaked memo “simply does not hold water”, as does the suggestion that the BBC did nothing to address the problems.

During the three years that Prescott was an adviser to the Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC), Shah said the BBC took the following steps:

– Published corrections where there had been an error,
– Changed the guidelines to make the BBC’s position on various issues clearer,
– Made leadership changes where problems indicated underlying issues,
– Implemented formal disciplinary action.

In his letter, Shah also referred to concerns about BBC Arabic, stressing that action has been taken.

He finally noted that “BBC News will soon appoint a new Director of Documentary, who will oversee production on current affairs issues.”