The BBC’s boss and its head of news quit on Sunday following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump.

“This is entirely my decision, and I remain very thankful to the Chair and Board for their unswerving and unanimous support throughout my entire tenure, including during recent days,” Davie said in a statement.

“I have been reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times, combined with the fact that I want to give a successor time to help shape the Charter plans they will be delivering.”

The BBC had been under mounting pressure after an internal report by a former standards adviser was leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, which cited failings in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, transgender issues and a speech made by Trump.

Trump welcomed the departures, criticising the two as “very dishonest people” after the BBC’s flagship Panorama programme edited two parts of one of his speeches together so he appeared to be encouraging the Capitol Hill riot of January 2021.

Tim Davie, who has led the British Broadcasting Corporation since 2020, defended the organisation, saying its journalism was seen as the gold standard around the world. But he said mistakes had been made and he had to take ultimate responsibility.

Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News, also resigned. In an email to staff, she said: “I want to be absolutely clear, recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”

RESPECTED OVERSEAS, QUESTIONED OVER NEWS JUDGEMENT

Widely respected around the world, the BBC still tops polls in Britain on the most trusted news brand and has a huge reach in the country, providing news, entertainment and sport.

But the corporation, which is funded by a licence fee paid by all television-watching households, comes under intense scrutiny from some national newspapers and critics on social media, which object to its funding model and perceived liberal stance.

It has, in recent years, been accused of failing to maintain its commitment to impartial news by critics on both sides of the political divide, struggling to navigate the fractious political and cultural environment.

The leaked internal report said BBC Arabic had shown anti-Israel bias in its reporting of the war in Gaza and that an effort to cover a group campaigning for single-sex spaces had been suppressed by a small group of staff who saw it as hostile to the transgender community.

In recent years, it had struggled to contain multiple scandals. In one, Gary Lineker, at the time its most highly paid sports presenter, was suspended for criticising the government’s immigration policy. That briefly led to many sports staff walking off the job in opposition.

It was condemned for showing punk-rap duo Bob Vylan chanting against the Israeli military at Glastonbury, and it pulled a documentary about Gaza earlier this year because it featured the son of a deputy minister in the Hamas-run government.

In the Panorama documentary broadcast last year, Trump was shown telling his supporters that “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol” and that they would “fight like hell”, a comment he made in a different part of his speech.

He had actually said his supporters would “cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women”.

Trump, in a social media post on Sunday, accused the two executives of having tried to influence a US presidential election.

“On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!” he said.