Sending licence fee money to Mar-a-Lago not 'smart', shadow minister suggests after Trump threatened to sue BBC

Source: The Independent

Sunday 16 November 2025 11:36 EST


Sending BBC licence fee money “over to Mar-a-Lago” would not be a “smart” thing to do, the shadow home secretary has said after Donald Trump threatened to sue the corporation for up to $5bn. Chris Philp said he believed the president is the “wronged party” in his battle with BBC, but that he did not think that using licence fee money to settle the matter would be a good idea.

Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One over the weekend that he would sue the corporation for “anywhere between $1bn and $5bn probably sometime next week”.

His comments followed an apology from the BBC on Thursday in which it said the Panorama edit of Mr Trump’s Capitol speech on 6 January 2021 had given the “mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action”. The broadcaster apologised and said the splicing of the speech was an “error of judgment” but refused to pay financial compensation after the US president’s lawyers threatened to sue for $1bn in damages unless a retraction and apology were published.

Asked whether licence fee payers’ money should go towards the White House, Mr Philp told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “No, I don’t think so. “So look, we all work hard and pay our licence fee. I don’t think sending some of it over to Mar-a-Lago would be a smart thing to do.” The historic Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, is owned by Mr Trump.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/politics/bbc-donald-trump-panorama-sue-b2866138.html