Quote:BBC director general and News CEO resign over Trump documentary edit

'Tim Davie has resigned as the director general of the BBC following criticism a Panorama documentary
misled viewers by editing a speech by US President Donald Trump. Deborah Turness, the corporation's
head of News, has also stepped down from her role over the issue. Davie had held the top job for five
years, but had faced increasing pressure over a series of controversies.


'Tim Davie and Deborah Turness.

The Telegraph published details, external of a leaked internal BBC memo on Monday that suggested
the Panorama programme edited two parts of Trump's speech together so he appeared to explicitly
encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.

Announcing his resignation on Sunday evening, Davie said: "Like all public organisations, the BBC is
not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable. "While not being the only reason,
the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision...' (More In Link)

Quote:BBC editor claims she was forced out over gender-critical views
Former chief writer for BBC News says she was blacklisted by ‘expert’ LGBT reporters who
became gatekeepers of transgender stories



'A veteran BBC broadcast journalist has claimed she was forced out over her gender-critical
views. Catherine Leng, a former chief writer for BBC News, said younger specialist LGBT
reporters had been able to “gatekeep” which stories on transgender issues were covered
because older editors were wrongly deferring to them on such subjects.

She told The Times that when she started pitching gender-critical stories, she was allegedly
stonewalled. The BBC has been plunged into crisis after The Telegraph published a dossier
detailing concerns over impartiality at the broadcaster. These included claims the BBC
published “a constant drip-feed of one-sided stories… celebrating the trans experience”
while ignoring gender-critical stories.

The memo, sent to BBC board members by Michael Prescott, a former standards adviser,
also revealed Panorama had doctored a speech by Donald Trump to suggest the president
had encouraged the Capitol riots in January 2021.

Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, the BBC’s former director-general and head of news,
resigned on Sunday in the wake of the dossier’s publication. In an interview with The Times,
Ms Leng said the introduction of news “hubs” in 2018 resulted in LGBT stories being exclusively
covered by younger reporters on the “learning and identity” desk.

“These people were treated as experts simply because they were believers in the idea of gender
identity,” Ms Leng told the newspaper. Ms Leng claimed to have witnessed a News at Ten editor
seeking counsel from a junior journalist on their use of language for a story about Pride.

“The reason they were considered to have expertise is of course because nobody else understands it,”
she said, adding: “They’re allowed to spout this gobbledegook and they’re treated as experts when
it comes to which language to use.” Ms Leng said her first skirmish with editors came in 2016 when
she was rebuked for referring to Chelsea Manning, the trans army intelligence analyst who handed
classified military documents to WikiLeaks, as “he”.

From then on, she started emailing news executives with concerns over the use of accurate language
and began pitching gender-critical stories such as the employment tribunal of Maya Forstater.
“I just got blanked, completely blanked,” she told The Times. “Then when you push it next time,
you’re accused of having an agenda.”

She claimed staff began steering clear of gender-critical stories for fear of being shunned, while
organisations such as Sex Matters, Transgender Trend and LGB Alliance became unofficially
blacklisted.

“Nobody actually has to say anything to you,” she said. “It’s just that opportunities are denied, you
get given crappy shifts, you are stuck on the desk rewriting copy.”

Returning after a period of stress-related sick leave in 2021, Ms Leng said she was shocked to
witness a shift in language at the BBC and took to Twitter to criticise the use of the term “cis”,
which refers to someone identifying as the sex they were born.

She was ordered to remove the posts and when she refused, she was subjected to a disciplinary
investigation. Ms Leng said she was already facing two other complaints over her gender-critical
stance and decided to accept redundancy in 2022. “I did feel forced out,” she said.

A BBC spokeswoman said: “[The broadcaster] reports a wide range of views and perspectives in line
with our editorial guidelines. We continually review our coverage to reflect new developments and
since the period your interviewee is describing we have updated the news style guide and shared
new guidance. Where there have been concerns about particular stories, we have addressed them.
“Although we do not comment on individual staff members or former staff members, all news staff
are required to comply with the BBC’s social media guidelines, and we take the appropriate action
when these are breached.”...'

Quote:‘Demonic’ Wind in the Willows jumper banned from Westminster Abbey

Woman told to remove or cover up garment featuring 1908 illustration of Pan lest it offend worshippers

'The Wind in the Willows is one of the most beloved books of British children’s literature, but while
most people think of the jolly adventures of Toad, Mole and Rat, Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 story has a
darker side.

And it was a step too far for the Beadle security guards at Westminster Abbey, who told a visitor wearing
a sweatshirt with an illustration from the book that she had to take it off because it was “an image of the
devil”.


Saints preserve us.

Chapter seven of the book is entitled Piper at the Gates of Dawn – borrowed by Pink Floyd for the title of
their debut album in 1967 – in which the doughty animals encounter a variation of the Greek satyr-like god
Pan while searching for Otter’s missing son.

It was this image as envisaged by the artist W Graham Robertson for the cover of the first edition of the
book that was used by folklore magazine Hellebore on its clothing and merchandise, and which Linsey
Teggert – a self-confessed folklore fan and “history nerd” – was wearing on a visit to the abbey on Monday
morning.

She had been on a short break in London for a couple of days from her home near Morpeth, Northumberland,
with her husband, Daniel, and had booked tickets to tour Westminster Abbey. Linsey, 38, who is a visitor
operations manager at a zoo and a freelance music journalist, said: “I didn’t take much with me and it was
a bit chilly that day so I just threw on the sweatshirt without a second thought. It wasn’t a premeditated
decision to wear it.

“We walked through the security scanner at the entrance but then one of the security guards called me back.
I just thought he wanted to check my bag or something. “Then he said I’d have to take off the top or cover it
up because it was an image of the devil and it might offend people in the abbey.”

Linsey argued that it wasn’t the devil, but a representation of Pan. She said: “I started to tell him, because I’m
a total history nerd, that there are loads of folklore and mythology-related carvings inside the abbey, and I was
talking about the Green Man, but he wasn’t having it. He said: ‘Well, it’s got horns and it’s demonic.’
My husband had to actually step in and say: ‘Look, we’re not Satan worshippers or anything!’”

With a queue building behind them, Linsey said she started to get anxious and complied, taking off the
sweatshirt and tying it around her waist as she had not brought a jacket to cover it up. Linsey said: “It just
felt a bit weird, a bizarre exchange, and I was made to feel like I’d really done something wrong.

Afterwards I felt a bit annoyed, and I was going round the abbey pointing out some of the carvings to my
husband, saying: ‘Oh, look, there’s a dragon and there’s a Green Man. Lots of things from mythology and
folklore.’ “I appreciate security have to do their job but I was just wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, I didn’t
turn up looking like some kind of devil worshipper.”

A spokesperson for Westminster Abbey said the abbey has a dress code that says: “As Westminster Abbey
is a church and place of daily worship, we ask you to show respect and sensitivity in the way you dress.”
She added: “I think it’s possible that the message on the clothing was misinterpreted. We will share this
feedback with our security colleagues.”
She also invited Linsey and Daniel back to the abbey to have tea and cake at the Cellarium cafe...'

Quote:Rebrand for golf course named after former prince Andrew

'The St Andrews golf course named after the former Prince Andrew is to be rebranded.
The Duke's Course, which is three miles from the centre of the Fife university town, will become
the Craigtoun Course, after a nearby country park. A heathland course unlike the links which
dominate the home of golf, the Duke's was opened by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in 1995.


Saint Andrew.

He later became captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which is based in St Andrews.
Andrew has given up his honorary membership, as part of his retreat from public life in the wake
of the scandal about his close friendship with the paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The course and club are also to come under the management of the St Andrews Links Trust on
a long-term lease. The club's logo is also being changed, to remove the royal association.
An illustration featuring trees will replace a lion rampant holding a saltire flag.

The trust already runs seven public courses around the Fife town, including the world famous
Old Course, which hosts the Open Championship every five years. Until 5 January, the Duke's
will continue to be run by golf resort operator Kohler, alongside its ownership of the Old Course
Hotel. From then on it will be know as the Craigtoun Course.

Private estate
Following a growing public outcry about his links to Epstein, Andrew was stripped of titles such
as the Duke of York and his status as prince, becoming Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. As part
of that announcement in October, Andrew was also to leave Royal Lodge and to move into some
other accommodation in Sandringham, the King's private estate in Norfolk.

Andrew has also faced calls from Democrat members of the US Congress to give evidence to a
committee investigating Epstein's activities. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor had not replied to the
request by the end of their deadline last month. A press release confirmed the course would
take on a "revitalised identity" but it did not mention the former prince.

Neil Coulson, chief executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said: "The agreement for The Craigtoun
Course will see the first new course added to the Home of Golf's portfolio in 18 years and presents
an ideal opportunity to expand the golf experiences we offer. "We are delighted to have reached
agreement with the Old Course Hotel and look forward to taking over what it is already a significant
asset for St Andrews and Scotland and building on its reputation."...'