The BBC is sympathetic to transgender issues where it should be detached, John Humphrys has said, as he accused the corporation of liberal bias.

The former host of Radio 4’s Today programme said the corporation is out of step with public opinion, making the same mistake as it did in the 1990s when it failed to understand the concerns about immigration.

BBC executives see the world “through a particular lens”, Humphrys said.

“If you take something like transgender, the mindset is such that we must kind of accept what the prevailing view is, except that their idea of ‘the prevailing view’ and perhaps mine and some other people’s might be slightly different.”

He said: “I happen to believe, personally, that there are not an unlimited number of genders. I believe we are born men and women.