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BBC rebukes newsreader…

Max Thompson

14 November 2025

To say it has been a challenging fortnight for the BBC would be an understatement.

While most attention has centred on the edited version of President Trump’s speech aired on Panorama, several other controversies have further undermined the BBC’s increasingly fragile claims of impartiality.

Unsurprisingly, many of these issues relate to the treatment of BBC staff who believe in the biological reality of sex.

It appears that the national broadcaster struggles to grasp the most basic biological facts and is willing to silence anyone – predominantly women – who attempt to correct the record. 

Martine Croxall, a BBC newsreader, was rebuked by the corporation after she made a facial expression, departed from her autocue and corrected the term “pregnant people” to “women”.

Ms Croxall went viral after this brief moment, earning praise from those who hold gender-critical views, including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. The BBC, however, was unimpressed.

The Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) concluded that Ms Croxall’s facial expression breached impartiality rules, claiming it amounted to expressing a “controversial view about trans people”. According to the ECU, her actions could clearly “indicate a particular viewpoint in the controversies currently surrounding trans ideology”. Is calling “women” “pregnant people” not controversial, then?

The praise Ms Croxall received on social media was also cited by the complaints unit as further evidence of her having expressed a personal opinion.

This is absurd. Holding gender-critical views is protected by the Equality Act and should not warrant disciplinary action in any workplace.

The BBC really does need to get its house in order.