Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire forced to step in as BBC row turns tense

Victoria Derbyshire was forced to interrupt two guests on Newsnight to allow one person to speak in a heated discussion. It comes after Donald Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $ 1billion, following accusations that the broadcaster had "misled" viewers by splicing together parts of a speech made by the US President. The BBC confirmed it has received a letter from President Trump and will "respond directly in due course". Speaking about the scandal on Newsnight, politician Jacob Rees-Mogg said he supports President Trump's right to sue the BBC. He also said that "anybody in his country would feel entitled to sue the BBC for libel if something was put out in such a dishonest way."

The former Conservative Cabinet Minister argued that the BBC should settle with President Trump. The Financial Times' Gillian Tett was also on the show and pointed out the number of other organisations that Trump has threatened legal action against, in addition to the BBC.

The pair also clashed over their views on censorship in the US, and at one point, Jacob repeatedly asked Gillian questions about her views on Joe Biden, but host Victoria Derbyshire was forced to step in and tell him off as he didn't let her reply. She said: "Let her at least finish one of your questions!"

Later on and speaking about the BBC, Jacob remarked: "I don't think it's party-politically biased, but I think it has a basically metropolitan view of the world," to which Gillian agreed and said: "I think that's probably fair."

One person argued on X: "The BBC made a mistake - and two major heads have rolled. But, to me, Trump has no case! I checked (do it) and approximately ZERO Americans saw the Panorama prog because it simply was not shown on any US TV channels. So, on what basis is he suing?"

Another person also said: "The BBC made a minor mistake. This is gaslighting on a monstrous scale from Mogg."

A third also defended the BBC and claimed: "Trump should not get a penny from the BBC and people of authority and influence should be telling him to wind his neck in."

Two of the BBC's most senior figures - chief executive of BBC News Deborah Turness and director-general Tim Davie - stepped down from their roles on Sunday amid the scandal.