The BBC was last night accused of breaching its impartiality rules after using civil servants to write and fact-check articles.
Graduates and managers seconded to the corporation’s newsroom were asked to work on stories concerning controversial topics, such as the small-boats crisis and the Covid pandemic.
Civil servants who wrote the pieces and blog posts were even given bylines suggesting they were part of BBC Verify or the news team’s staff.
The revelations have raised questions as to whether any of the Government officials tried to influence the Beeb’s coverage by aligning it with Whitehall’s stance.
One civil servant was given the task of
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