Key question Tim Davie hasn’t answered over Huw Edwards scandal – it’ll be key to clawing back salary, Radio 2 host says
TIM Davie has so far failed to answer a key question over the Huw Edwards scandal, a Radio 2 host has said.
The BBC director-general has admitted he knew of Edwards’ arrest for receiving indecent images of children in November.
He also revealed it would be “impossible” to claw back the salary paid to the disgraced newsreader between the time of his arrest and April, when he quit the BBC.
Edwards is understood to have received around £200,000 over the five-month period and remained one of the BBC’s highest-paid presenters
But Radio 2 host Jeremy Vine today urged the BBC to shed light on whether bosses asked Edwards if he was guilty when they were made aware of the police probe.
Speaking on his namesake Channel 5 show, Vine said: “You can’t justify paying him beyond November if you know he’s guilty.”
He added: “We need to find out if the BBC said, what [were you arrested] for and are you guilty?
“If he said to them ‘it’s for these serious offences but I’m not guilty’, then I would think you could start to take action to get the money back. Because that clearly is a lie. He’s admitted he’s guilty.
“I don’t know whether the BBC asked him ‘are you guilty?’, because you can’t justify paying him beyond November if you know he’s guilty.”
He also said it had been a “bad, bad week” for the BBC and he “couldn’t believe it” when he found out bosses had been aware of the arrest since November.
It comes as Edwards is facing increasing calls to return the £200,000 earned while under arrest.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today said it is “not a good use of taxpayers’ money”.
She added: “I think he ought to return his salary.
“I think having been arrested on such serious charges all the way back in November, to continue to receive that salary all the way through until he resigned is wrong and it’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money.
“I think most people in the country will agree with that but whether he does that or not is up to him.”
She hauled in Mr Davie for a meeting on Thursday to address concerns over the BBC’s handling of the scandal.
When asked about the meeting, Ms Nandy added: “We had a very robust and frank discussion about the circumstances around the case, and some of the decisions that have been made during that case and also since.”
Mr Davie said the BBC would “look at all options” when it comes to retrieving the money paid to Edwards, but admitted it would be “challenging”.
He said: “No one likes to see this situation. But these are unfortunately the specifics of how it works.
“We can’t claw back the pension – it’s very difficult, nigh on impossible.
“I think when it comes to pay – again, legally challenging, but we’ll look at all options.”
Addressing why he had kept quiet about Edwards’ arrest, he said the BBC was “not sitting on anything that I think we need to share with the police, or is of a serious nature that would make me feel that we hadn’t followed up properly”.
He added: “I can categorically say that when it comes to the offences we’ve seen, which are truly horrendous, any evidence that is out there is not in the hands of the BBC.
“If I saw evidence of that, that is not a complicated decision.”
BBC plagued by paedos
BY Tom Seaward
THIS is the latest in a long line of paedophile scandals dating back decades to have marred the BBC’s reputation.
Jimmy Savile’s shocking crimes rocked the corporation in 2012, when the presenter was revealed to be a prolific sex offender.
Savile, who died in 2011 before the allegations became widely known, is thought to have assaulted up to 450 young people, with police recording 31 allegations of rape against him.
His crimes stretched back to 1955 and allegations included the abuse of desperately ill children and necrophilia.
Jonathan King, BBC presenter and music impresario, was jailed for seven years in 2001 for molesting five teenage boys in the 1980s.
Thick of It actor Chris Langham was caged for ten months in 2007 for downloading child sex abuse images and videos.
It’s a Knockout star Stuart Hall got 30 months in 2013 for indecent assaults on girls.
Original Radio 1 presenter Chris Denning was caged for 13 years in 2014 for abusing 26 boys from 1967 to 1987, and got another 13-year sentence two years later.
He had also done jail time in the 1980s for assaulting boys.
And shamed presenter Rolf Harris was jailed for five-and- a-half years in 2014 for molesting four young girls, including one aged seven.
But BBC staff are understood to be furious over the handling of the case, with some describing Edwards still being paid as a “disgrace”.
A note co-signed by senior management including Mr Davie, chief executive Deborah Turness and chief operating officer Leigh Tavaziva circulated to BBC staff this week caused further furore.
It said: “Many of you will have seen that Huw Edwards has pleaded guilty to charges against him.
“We are appalled by this news — there can be no place for such behaviour.
“Some of you may feel shocked and saddened by this news and will have worked closely with Huw Edwards over the years.
“Many of you will be working on this story, and we want to thank you for your professionalism in carrying on with your jobs in difficult circumstances.”
Edwards is now facing he prospect of jail after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children on Wednesday.
He received sex abuse videos of kids as young as seven on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.
In a statement, the BBC said it was informed the former News at Ten anchor had been arrested over child abuse images on November 8.
It was four months after The Sun reported claims that Edwards had paid a teen £35,000 for explicit images.
A BBC spokesman said yesterday: “The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today.
“There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.
“The police have confirmed that the charges are not connected to the original complaint raised with the BBC in the summer of 2023.
“Nevertheless in the interests of transparency we think it important to set out some points about events of the last year.
“In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.
“At the time, no charges had been brought and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.
“Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court.
“If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him.”In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.
“During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.
“We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards’ actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.”