BBCA former BBC board member who stepped down last week has shared his resignation letter with BBC News, shedding new light on the events that led to the corporation’s director general and news CEO stepping down.
Shumeet Banerjee resigned on Friday citing “governance issues”, but the full reasons are not yet known.
In his damning letter, he said news boss Deborah Turnes was told “she did not have the confidence of the majority of the board”.
But, Banerjee wrote, he was “not invited to any meeting where such an important matter was to be discussed”.
Details of the letter come a day after corporation chairman Sameer Shah told a select committee of MPs that he believed he had consulted Banerjee, and that the pair had had a “26-minute call”.
Banerjee told BBC News on Tuesday that she had watched the committee discussions with interest.
He further said, “My resignation letter may clarify the reasons for my resignation. It may also serve to clarify the misunderstandings that have arisen among the committee members and the audience.”
Davey and Turness resigned as a result of the fallout from the Panorama episode, in which parts of US President Donald Trump’s 2021 speech were edited together.
It was sparked by a leaked memo sent to the board by former outside consultant, Michael Prescott.
Since then, concerns have been raised in some quarters over how the BBC board operates. The Board is responsible for the oversight and strategy of the corporation.
In her letter, Banerjee wrote: “I will not be seen as a participant in any decision of the Board on which I was not consulted, nor which in my view has not been adequately discussed.”
On Monday, Shah was asked directly by MPs about Banerjee’s resignation and rejected her claims that she was not consulted about the events leading up to Ternes and Davy’s departures.
“I am disappointed and surprised by what he said,” Shah responded, telling the committee that he had a “26-minute call” with Banerjee on Sunday. “I would say he was consulted”.
Banerjee’s resignation letter gives a different version of events. He said that after the Prescott memo was leaked, two board meetings were held to discuss the crisis in the corporation.
He was unable to attend the first meeting, but at the second he was surprised to learn that Turnes had already been informed that “he did not have the confidence of the majority of the board”.
“I was not invited to any meeting where such an important matter was to be discussed,” he wrote.
“Nor has your office asked to immediately discuss where we are. I requested a phone call from you yesterday.
“You might have talked to every director and asked about ‘yes’ and ‘no’, but the reason for having a board is to have rational discussions on important matters. This has not happened.
He also said he was not surprised that Davy also resigned as he would have considered the board’s lack of confidence in his news chief to be “a direct attack on himself as editor-in-chief and CEO”.
He suggested that the board took action “because of press outrage” and concluded: “The lesson for critics of the BBC is the leak and the launch. Will the departure of two of our most senior, respected and beloved executives make the BBC stronger? Somehow, I very much doubt it.”
The release of the full letter comes as pressure on Shah increases, as Caroline Dinenage, chair of the culture committee, questioned on Monday whether the BBC is in “safe hands” under him.
House of CommonsBanerjee’s letter is also an insight into what was happening behind the scenes as the crisis unfolded. At the committee hearing, board members were at pains to present a unified position, though this letter paints a different picture.
It also helps explain what Caroline Thomson, a board member, described as “persistent and intense disagreements”.
BBC News previously reported that the board had blocked Turnus and the news division from apologizing for the Donald Trump edit, after the Telegraph began reporting on the leaked memo.
In his appearance before the committee on Monday, Shah told MPs that it “took time” to apologize because “I need to make sure that what I’m apologizing for is completely sourced and completely accurate”.
Banerjee is suggesting that the board has made Turnes’ position untenable.
An insider to the process told me she had already decided to resign because she didn’t trust the board and viewed them as a “circular firing squad.” The insider said the crisis had escalated beyond recovery and he felt it was the right thing to do.
Banerjee, a non-executive board member since 2022, is the founder of , an advisory and investment firm that specializes in technology companies. He previously led the management consulting firm Booz & Company.
The BBC’s 12-member board is responsible for ensuring that it fulfills its public service mission and sets the strategic direction of the corporation, which is largely funded by license-fee payers.
Non-executive members are responsible to the executive management of the BBC. The chairman of the board is former documentary producer Shah.
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