What we learned today is devastating for the BBC’s reputation at home and abroad.

A leaked internal memo, seen by The Telegraph, reveals that the corporation doctored a speech by President Donald Trump to make him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot.

According to the whistleblower, the Panorama programme edited together separate parts of Trump’s words, added foreboding music, and juxtaposed them with footage of the Capitol riots that were shot before the speech had even been made.

The aim was to create the false impression that he had exhorted his supporters to take violent action.

This is shameful. It is worse than any editorial legerdemain we have seen in the past.

Far worse than the Martin Bashir interview of Diana, Princess of Wales. The then-Princess of Wales may have been misled, but she wanted to do the interview anyway. Donald Trump had words attributed to him that he did not say.

This is simply fraud. The BBC, which is funded by the public, presented manipulated footage as a fact to back its left wing agenda.

For decades, many of us have suspected the BBC of bias, whether over Brexit, Gaza, green policies or cultural affairs. This is further confirmation of that suspicion.

Not only was President Trump misrepresented, but the dossier also flags bias in its coverage of Gaza by the Arabic service, censorship of transgender debates, and dismissals of complaints raised by the corporation’s own standards watchdog.

Senior executives, including the Director-General Tim Davie and the Chairman Samir Shah, were alerted but reportedly turned a blind eye.

Complaints from the standards committee were apparently dismissed.

Warnings about dangerous editorial behaviour were seemingly ignored.

Internationally, this damages the BBC’s credibility. Foreign governments can no longer be expected to trust the BBC after it has deliberately misrepresented the words of a world leader.

How can the public be expected to pay a licence fee to fund an organisation that does not uphold impartiality, that lies to its audience to support its own leftie worldview, and that refuses to hold its executives accountable?

This scandal should force the Government to scrap the exploitative licence fee once and for all. No taxpayer should be obliged to fund a broadcaster that is politically active.

This is more than an isolated case of bias – it is malpractice, deception, and fraud; a stain on the BBC and by extension, of Britain.