'Active Tory operative' shapes BBC news coverage, says Emily Maitlis

A member of the board of BBC which acts as arbiter of the broadcaster's impartiality is an "active agent" of the Conservative Party, according to former Newsnightpresenter Emily Maitlis.

Ms Maitlis , who left the BBC this year for rival media group Global, reportedly referenced Theresa May's former communications director Sir Robbie Gibb in a scathing speech about the company's alleged closeness to Number 10.

Sir Robbie, who was appointed by Boris Johnson's government to BBC Member of the Board last year, he was Downing Street's communications director from 2017 to 2019.< /p>

Before that, he worked at the BBC for 25 years, including as deputy editor of Newsnight and editor of The Daily Politicsand This Week.< /p>

Ms Maitlis' comments came during the annual MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival on Wednesday night, when she criticized the BBC for "seeking to appease" Number 10 by publishing Quick apology for a Newsnight monologue she gave on Dominic Cummings trip to Durham.

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Presentation of an episode of the program in 2020, said Ms Maitlis, said Mr Cummings, then Boris Johnson's chief adviser, had 'broken the rules' with a lockdown trip to Durham and 'the co...