'Today' chief told to quit column after countryside tirade

The man who runs the Today programme has been carpeted by BBC chiefs for showing party political bias and told he must ditch his column in a national newspaper or stop working for the show.

Rod Liddle, editor of the Radio 4 programme, has infuriated senior executives by a column in The Guardian deriding the marchers on the Countryside Alliance. Greg Dyke, the BBC director general, has warned his staff not to make party political points when writing for other media organisations. His "conflicts of interest" document expressly forbade them from expressing political opinions.

Mr Liddle has now been told he must choose between Today where he has worked for five years and being a columnist. It is understood the message was conveyed to Mr Liddle at a meeting with his immediate boss Steve Mitchell, head of radio news and Mark Damazer, assistant director, news. Senior BBC insiders said it was unlikely Mr Liddle would continue his column.

Last night the corporation, criticised Mr Liddle. In his column, he wrote: "You may ... have forgotten why you voted Labour in 1997. But you catch a glimpse of the forces supporting the Countryside Alliance: the public schools that laid on coaches; the fusty, belch-filled dining rooms of the London clubs... the Prince of Wales and, of course, Camilla... and suddenly, rather gloriously, it might be you remember again."

The BBC said: "The piece was not acceptable from the editor of the Today programme. It does not square with the BBC's obligation to be impartial and to be seen to be impartial. Rod Liddle accepts this column was a significant error of judgement. We are discussing whether Rod continues the column. He clears his column with a senior BBC News manager every week. In this instance there was a genuine and regrettable technical error and the full column was not presented for scrutiny."

Yesterday, The Daily Telegraph in its editorial accused Mr Liddle of treating "honest, non-violent and dedicated protesters with contempt". It added: "Mr Liddle displays the most blatant bias, animus, and even party allegiance, while running an important news programme for the corporation whose charter insists on the absence of all three."

Tim Luckhurst, a former colleague said: "Rod Liddle is not biased. He is an iconoclast who challenges shibboleths of both left and right."