‘Reputational car crash’: insiders rue BBC’s handling of Huw Edwards

Staff feel disillusioned with senior management and bitter that his pay had become an unstoppable snowball

For Huw Edwards, once the most trusted newsreader in Britain, now a convicted user of images of the most serious child sexual abuse, the disgrace is total – and nowhere more than in his home country of Wales.

Hours after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children as young as seven, a plaque on a building at Cardiff castle commemorating its unveiling by Edwards had already been wrenched off; his voice was also deleted from its guide. He is likely to be stripped of honorary titles at Bangor and Cardiff universities. A mural of the newsreader’s face in his home village of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire has already been painted over by the artist.

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Fresh crisis at ‘toxic’ Strictly as ex-staff claim they faced sexualised comments and cruelty

Production workers at Strictly Come Dancing allege BBC refused to take their complaints seriously

Production staff who formerly worked on Strictly Come Dancing have complained of a toxic work culture and accused the BBC of failing to take their complaints seriously, in a fresh blow to the corporation’s primetime show, the Observer can reveal.

One former staff member alleged they had been subjected to sexist and sexualised comments, including intrusive questions about their sex life, while another claimed they witnessed “talented co-workers treated with cruelty”.

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Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw to star in Doctor Who spin-off

Writer Russell T Davies says drama The War Between the Land and the Sea ‘will shake the Whoniverse to its foundations’

Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are to star in a Doctor Who spin-off called The War Between the Land and the Sea, it has been announced.

They will lead the cast alongside Jemma Redgrave and Alexander Devrient in the series, which was created by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies. He has co-written the series with Pete McTighe, who has also worked on Doctor Who.

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Craig Revel Horwood says Strictly Come Dancing allegations are ‘shock’

Accusations of abusive behaviour in rehearsal rooms ‘complete news’ to judge of the dance show

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has said allegations of abusive behaviour to past participants on the show have come as a “shock” to him.

Last weekend professional dancer Graziano Di Prima said he was leaving the BBC show after claims about his treatment of reality star Zara McDermott when they competed together last year.

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Strictly dancer admits kicking his celebrity partner during rehearsals

Spokesperson for Graziano Di Prima says he accepts he ‘crossed the line’ in the incident with Zara McDermott

Graziano Di Prima was removed from Strictly Come Dancing after he kicked his celebrity partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals, his spokesperson has said.

Di Prima, who joined the Strictly lineup in 2018, announced last weekend he was leaving the programme.

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Iranian TV presenter stabbed in London moves abroad for safety

Exclusive: Pouria Zeraati ‘no longer felt safe in UK’ as Tehran regime steps up threats and attacks on critics in exile

An Iranian television presenter, who was attacked in London by men believed to be acting for the Tehran regime, has moved abroad, saying that he no longer felt safe in the UK.

Pouria Zeraati said the UK’s approach to the threat posed by Iran on British soil could not guarantee his safety.

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Billie Eilish latest star to read CBeebies bedtime story

Oscar-winning singer chooses book by Oliver Jeffers that highlights importance of protecting nature

Billie Eilish has become the latest star to read a CBeebies bedtime story, having chosen a book that teaches children about interacting with nature.

The Oscar-winning singer of What Was I Made For? and Birds of a Feather read This Moose Belongs to Me by the author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers.

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Lineker and Shearer v Keane and Wright: does BBC or ITV have the stronger Euro 2024 final lineup?

The two big channels prepare to slug it out for viewers for the climax of the tournament

Forget La Roja versus Three Lions. Sunday’s battle between the big two terrestrial channels, which will simulcast the action, looks set to be an equally tasty clash.

Last Wednesday, a peak of 21.6million viewers watched England’s nervy semi-final win over the Netherlands on ITV1. Ratings will rise even higher for the showpiece final, but this time fans must decide whose coverage to watch. ITV hoped to gain an early edge by scheduling its build-up to begin at 6.30pm, ahead of the 8pm kick-off. Initially BBC1 wasn’t slated to start until 7pm until the Beeb made a last-minute change to replicate its rival – the broadcasting equivalent of a late Jude Bellingham equaliser. Here’s how the TV teams will line up…

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Keir Starmer commits to keeping BBC licence fee after years of Tory hostility

Broadcaster suffered severe cuts under Conservatives, which reneged on inflation-linked deal

Labour will support the BBC licence fee, Keir Starmer has pledged, in stark contrast to the years of Conservative opposition to the funding model.

The levy of £159 a year on households with a television used to receive live broadcasts (or watch BBC iPlayer) raises £3.2bn annually for the BBC and the Welsh channel S4C.

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Sunak cites ‘confidential’ inquiry as he refuses to answer questions over aide and election date bet – live

PM again declines to say whether he told Craig Williams in advance about his decision to hold the election in July

Rishi Sunak is returning to the campaign trail on Thursday, PA reports, after a two-day hiatus for the Emperor and Empress of Japan’s state visit and preparations for the final head-to-head debate with Sir Keir Starmer.

With one week to go until polling day, the deepening gambling scandal is still likely to feature heavily when he faces the media during a tour of the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

He is expected to visit a factory in Derbyshire and hold an evening campaign event in Leeds.

Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of using transgender issues “as a political football to divide people” during their head-to-head debate on Wednesday.

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Vernon Kay uses CDs to keep BBC Radio 2 show going after technical issue

Presenter forced to improvise after track cuts out because of computer system failure

“Please don’t stop the music,” Rihanna once sang. On Thursday, producers at BBC Radio 2 scrambled to oblige as Vernon Kay was forced to use CDs to play music on the station after its digital system failed.

The radio presenter, 50, was playing Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who towards the end of his show when the issue occurred. At about 11.30am, the track cut out and he came back on air laughing. He said: “This has never happened to me, where the computer system has just failed.”

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Sunak and Starmer clash over tax, borders and Brexit deal in final head-to-head before polling day – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can read our full report on this debate here

YouGov will have a snap poll on who won the debate, with the results available minutes after it finishes.

This is what Labour is putting out ahead of the debate, in a stateement from Pat McFadden, the national campaign coordinator.

Tonight, the British people will witness the choice at this election: five more years of chaos with Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives or change with Keir Starmer and Labour.

On 4 July, the British people will have the chance to vote for change. To stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country with Keir Starmer and a changed Labour party.

Tonight, Keir Starmer has the opportunity to announce loud and clear to the British public what his intentions are.

Throughout this campaign we have challenged the Labour party, time and time again, to come clean on their plans for taxes. Time and time again they have declined to do so.

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Rishi Sunak says he is ‘incredibly angry’ about betting allegations in BBC Question Time election special – as it happened

Prime minister says suspects must face ‘full force of law’ if found guilty; Labour, SNP and Lib Dem leaders speak during programme

The next question comes from Linda, who says Davey’s antics during the election campaigns (fun photo opportunities, often involving him getting wet) haven’t looked prime-ministerial.

Davey says he has been trying to grab attention.

It was very difficult governing with the Conservatives. We couldn’t get everything we wanted …

You either had to stay in and fight inside the government or leave. I think the easy choice for me would be to leave, vote against it, and tour the media studios and complain. The hard choice was to stay in, roll up my sleeves and really fight.

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UK universities valued more than institutions like parliament and BBC, finds survey

King’s College London poll finds people rank universities behind only the NHS, armed forces and royal family

The British public values the UK’s universities more highly than the legal system or the BBC, according to a survey of attitudes towards higher education by King’s College London.

Prof Bobby Duffy, the director of King’s College London’s policy institute, said universities came behind only the NHS, the armed forces and the royal family in a league table of UK institutions considered to be among the best in the world by the public.

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‘It’s the front line of being British’: Clive Myrie on hosting BBC election night, and the racism he has endured

The news anchor, who will present the programme with Laura Kuenssberg, has spoken on Desert Island Discs about the insults and threats he has experienced as a broadcaster

Clive Myrie has detailed the racism he has experienced during his broadcasting career, as he prepares to present the BBC’s general election night programme.

Speaking to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, broadcast on Sunday, the 59-year-old listed some of the insults and threats he has endured, including being sent faeces and pictures of gorillas in the post.

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Rishi Sunak’s general election interview with the BBC: the key points

Taxes, D-day, Farage and NHS waiting lists were all on the agenda as the prime minister jousted with Nick Robinson

Rishi Sunak was the first party leader to sit down with the BBC’s Nick Robinson for the broadcaster’s series of long-form election interviews. Here are the key points from the PM’s grilling.

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Rishi Sunak denies he considered missing D-day events entirely as he reiterates apology – UK general election live

PM, who left to attend an ITV interview, says ‘the last thing I wanted was for the commemorations to be overshadowed by politics’

I think it would be fair to say that children’s minister David Johnston is not having a vintage media round today.

First he was ambushed by Rishi Sunak issuing his D-day absence apology while the minister was literally out defending Sunak by repeatedly pointing out that he had been in France earlier in the day and in Portsmouth the day before [See 8.18 BST].

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BBC presenter Martine Croxall returns to screen after bringing tribunal claim

Croxall has sued corporation for discrimination along with three other female senior journalists

A BBC presenter who has brought a tribunal claim against the broadcaster has returned to the screen. Martine Croxall sued the corporation after being off air for more than a year following the merger of the BBC’s News and World News channels.

Croxall, 55, and three other senior female BBC journalists, Kasia Madera, Annita McVeigh and Karin Giannone, said they were taken off air after being snubbed for chief presenter roles.

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David Cameron urges BBC to describe Hamas as terrorist organisation

Foreign secretary’s call comes after group releases video of British-Israeli hostage it says died after being wounded in Israeli airstrike

Middle East crisis: latest news updates

David Cameron has urged the BBC to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation, reviving an accusation that the corporation shies away from a valid description of the Islamist group that is holding Israeli hostages.

The UK foreign secretary told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the organisation should reconsider its guidelines in light of a video released by Hamas showing the British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell, who the group said had died in Gaza.

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Eurovision loses almost a quarter of UK viewers compared with 2023

Saturday night’s final watched by average of 7.64m as Britain’s entry Olly Alexander finished in 18th place

Eurovision lost almost a quarter of its UK viewers compared with last year’s Liverpool extravaganza, amid a row over Israel’s participation.

Saturday night’s grand final on the BBC was watched by an average of 7.64 million people, peaking at 8.46 million, according to official figures provided by the agency Digital i. Britain’s entry, Olly Alexander, finished in 18th place with 46 points after he was awarded zero in the public vote.

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