Emily Maitlis calls BBC board member ‘active Tory agent’

News in brief

Ex-BBC journalist, Emily Maitlis, has said there is an “active agent of the Conservative Party” on the BBC Board shaping the broadcaster’s output.

The former Newsnight presenter said Sir Robbie Gibb, who was appointed to the BBC’s board last year by Boris Johnson’s government, was “acting as the arbiter of BBC impartiality”.

Gibb was previously Theresa May’s director of communications and helped found GB News.

Maitlis left the BBC earlier this year with former BBC North America editor Jon Sopel to join Global where they will launch a daily news podcast, The News Agents, slated for first broadcast on Monday.