UK government finally defends BBC one week after India raids as MPs condemn press ‘intimidation’

It comes as India’s foreign minister accused the British broadcaster of engaging in ‘politics by another means’

The British government has offered a limited defence of the BBC and its "editorial freedom" in its first substantive comments since the broadcaster’s offices in India were raided by tax authorities last week.

The Indian finance ministry accused the BBC of tax evasion last Friday after tax agents concluded a three-day-long “survey” of the broadcaster's offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.

In the House of Commons, it was the opposition Labour Party that criticised the action taken against the BBC in India most strongly, calling the raids “deeply worrying”.