Anger bubbles up at the BBC as staffers issued a new scathing attack on bosses following the revelations surrounding Huw Edwards’ guilty plea – a rage ‘impossible to overstate.’
BBC staffers have blasted “flaccid” bosses as they continue to demand retribution for failing to boot Huw Edwards out following his arrest.
The 62-year-old newsreader pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children earlier this week.
It was later revealed that he had been arrested in November 2023 over serious allegations, sparking backlash against Director-General Tim Davie, which the BBC had been aware of at the time.
Criticism has surged, even within the BBC, as employees are reportedly “very angry” with bosses over their handling of the situation.
Huw remained part of the BBC until his resignation on medical grounds in April 2024.
Now another source has broken their silence over the situation this Sunday, August 4, 2024, admitting it would be “impossible to overstate the rage” felt by employees.
Staff have expressed their shock over Edwards’ employment to the Sunday Times, as he remained on the payroll for five months despite his arrest, before leaving his BBC News At Ten hosting duties earlier this year. An “indefensible” offence, according to employees, particularly as Huw Edwards earned £200k of his bumper salary.
“It’s always the same few men being protected but if an ordinary member of staff ran into half the trouble Huw did, they’d be toast,” another unnamed BBC presenter argued. “And flaccid BBC management yet again aren’t on the front foot.”
One former BBC correspondent added: “He should have been sacked upon arrest, since he had already brought the BBC into significant disrepute by then.”
The sources described what they called a “toxic relationship” between newsreaders and senior BBC managers, “ignoring red flags.”
This comes after BBC’s Director-General Tim Davie was urged to release the findings of the broadcaster’s inquiry on Huw Edwards by Newsnight’s Cat Neilan, after he’d defended the BBC’s decision to not sack the presenter despite his legal trouble.
Asked about how the BBC handled Huw Edwards’ arrest in November, Tim Davie recently responded: “We knew it was serious, we knew no specifics, apart from the category of the potential offences.”
On Thursday, August 1, Tim Davie met with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and was grilled over how the BBC handled Huw Edwards’ case. The MP has since demanded, along with numerous others, for Huw Edwards 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 said.
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Source: New York Post
