Accused of being biased by some, defended as a champion of impartiality by others, the BBC is once again the subject of a thorny debate about the role of a publicly funded broadcaster in an increasingly polarised landscape.

The BBC is regularly used as political football, with the organisation facing flak for how it chooses to cover issues from climate change to Brexit.

Now it is under greater scrutiny than ever before, following the revelation that a documentary it aired last year misleadingly edited a speech by US President Donald Trump.

Trump has issued an unprecedented threat to sue over the documentary, which was broadcast before the US presidential ballot and examined why US voters were prepared to re-elect a convicted felon.

In the former constituency of ex-prime minister Boris

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