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London: The BBC should “stand up for itself more” amid criticism over its handling of allegations made against the newsreader Huw Edwards, Sir Tony Blair has suggested.
The former Labour prime minister said that, while from “time to time” the BBC would face scandals, he supported an “important British institution”.
Former British PM Tony Blair.Credit: Getty
The corporation has been in crisis since The Sun newspaper reported allegations an unnamed BBC star paid a teenager £35,000 ($67,000) for sexually explicit images.
Edwards, 61 one of the corporation’s highest-paid earners, was later identified by his wife Vicky Flind, as the man at the centre of the accusations and said he was receiving treatment in hospital for mental health issues.
Concerns about the adequacy of the BBC’s governance arrangements will now be raised when Tim Davie, the corporation’s director-general and other senior figures appear at a prearranged Lords Communications Committee session on Tuesday.
Huw Edwards in 2017.Credit: AP
Appearing on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday program, Blair, 70, who served as prime minister from 1997 to 2007, was asked for his take on the allegations against Edwards.
“I don’t think anyone knows the facts and I feel sorry for everyone involved. These are very human situations. I’ve known him for many years. I don’t really have any great insight but I hope it all gets resolved in a way that you know keeps people in good health and resolves whatever issues have happened,” he said.
Asked about the BBC’s response and if had stumbled from crisis to crisis, he defended the corporation.
“I think it’s a great British institution,” he said “And I mean, of course, these things will hit them from time to time but I don’t think it means that the whole of the BBC is now a bad institution.
“And I think, you know, frankly, BBC should stand up for itself a bit more, to be blunt about it. And also, by the way, abroad the BBC is still regarded as an important British institution and, given our need to make sure we keep as much of a position of power in the world as we can, so whatever my disagreements from time to time, I still basically support it.”
Tim Davie, the director-general of the BBC.Credit: AP
Edwards faces no further action by police after Scotland Yard said there was no evidence of criminal offences, allowing an internal BBC investigation to resume.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Flind said her husband was first told about the allegations against him last Thursday and “is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future”.
The Sun said it has no plans to publish further claims and will co-operate with the corporation’s internal probe.
On Wednesday, BBC Newsnight reported new claims from one current and one former BBC worker, who said they got “inappropriate messages” from Edwards, “some late at night and signed off with kisses”.
Following the family statement, Davie said in a note to staff it was “important” that work on the internal investigation continued, adding: “I want to be clear that in doing so we will follow due process.”
He said the corporation’s “immediate concern is our duty of care to all involved”.
It also emerged last week that the BBC was investigating allegations about Edwards’ conduct before The Sun published its story.
The presenter’s BBC News colleagues were secretly working on a potential exposé days before the newspaper ran its claim last week that Edwards had paid money to a young person in exchange for images.
The entertainment website Deadline reported that two sources at the corporation said Newsnight anchor Victoria Derbyshire was examining accusations about Edwards’ conduct days before claims he allegedly paid a teenager for explicit pictures.
But a third source downplayed the work, saying one person was spoken to before it was deemed there was no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Edwards.
The Telegraph, London
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