Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has been accused of attempting to 'bully the BBC' over its coverage of Gaza by Peter Kosminsky, the director of the BBC drama Wolf Hall. In a letter to Nandy, Kosminsky claimed the government was acting like a 'tinpot dictatorship' by pressuring BBC Director General Tim Davie.
Kosminsky cited the 'ignominious history' of political interference in the BBC, referencing the death of Dr David Kelly, a government weapons expert who died in 2003 after being revealed as the source for a BBC story about Iraq's weapons capabilities. 'Could I respectfully suggest that you stop trying to bully the BBC... over its coverage of the war in Gaza,' Kosminsky wrote.
Nandy has repeatedly criticised the BBC over a Gaza documentary that failed to disclose its child narrator was the son of a Hamas official, and over its livestreaming of the punk rap group Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, where chants of 'death to the IDF' were heard. She questioned why no one had been fired over the failings.
Kosminsky warned Nandy about historical precedents of political interference, noting the Thatcher government's attempt to pull a 1985 documentary about Northern Ireland. 'It is not the government's job or responsibility to police the individual editorial decisions of the BBC,' he wrote.
Richard Ayre, a former BBC controller of editorial policy, described Nandy's actions as 'outrageous', stating that governance procedures should ensure the BBC is governed independently, not by politicians. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport defended Nandy, saying she raised concerns on behalf of licence fee payers and that the BBC must be accountable.
