Sir Trevor Phillips encouraged CBS News colleagues to tell critics to ‘fuck off’

Phillips sought to buck up his fellow London bureau colleagues during a contentious staff meeting on Tuesday

The veteran British broadcaster Sir Trevor Phillips had some strong words of advice for his CBS News colleagues when facing off against critics who question the editorial integrity of the network: “Why don’t you just fuck off and let us do our jobs?”

Phillips made his blunt suggestion during a contentious meeting of the network’s London bureau on Tuesday, during which the foreign editor, Shayndi Raice, went on a lengthy tirade criticizing unnamed staffers for suggesting that editorial oversight amounted to “interference” and informing colleagues that disobeying editors would be insubordination and “legal grounds for firing”.