JAMES PURNELL LEAVES BBC: Mark Duell (Mail 24/10) reported that former Labour government culture secretary James Purnell, who had become the BBC’s director of radio and education, was leaving the corporation ‘after losing his place on its executive team following the arrival of new director general Tim Davie’. Mr Duell said that Mr Purnell, who had worked at the BBC for seven years and had been responsible for developing the BBC’s strategy in the run-up to Charter renewal in 2017, had been appointed vice chancellor of the University of the Arts in London. Mr Duell added that Mr Purnell had also been responsible for developing the new BBC platform BBC Sounds.
BBC ‘CAST LEAVE VOTERS AS STUPID’: Naomi Adedokun (Express 24/10) said that the Conservative MP for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, had claimed that Brexit-supporting voters were ‘switching the BBC off in droves’ and ‘ripping their TV licences up’ because corporation coverage of the EU cast them as ‘stupid’ and had alienated them. Ms Adedokun said Mr Anderson had asserted that the BBC had accused them of ‘being thick, racist and not knowing what they voted for’.