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21.11.2023 - 10:55 / deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: The UK government has been accused of interfering with the BBC’s independence after piling pressure on the broadcaster to grip the Huw Edwards scandal in July.
Within hours of The Sun newspaper publishing allegations that Edwards paid a teenager for sexual images, a high-ranking official all but ordered the BBC to investigate, according to emails obtained by Deadline under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The BBC is editorially and operationally independent of the government and people familiar with the corporation’s governance said it is the job of the board, not ministers, to police issues such as the Edwards firestorm.
This did not stop Robert Specterman-Green, the director of media for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), from messaging BBC chief of staff Phil Harrold on Saturday, July 8, to set out the government’s expectations.
“While recognising this is a matter for the BBC to manage, I wanted to underline, on behalf of DCMS, our expectation that the BBC looks into this with urgency and proactively takes all necessary and appropriate steps,” Specterman-Green wrote.
He emailed before the BBC board had gathered over Zoom for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the Edwards issue that Saturday. Harrold replied reassuring Specterman-Green that the BBC was taking the matter “very seriously.”
A day later, culture secretary Lucy Frazer released a statement saying she had spoken to BBC director general Tim Davie about the “deeply concerning allegations.” She added that the broadcaster must be “given the space” to conduct its inquiries. Edwards was suspended later that day.
Emails between the DCMS and BBC show Frazer arranged a least two further phone calls with Davie and BBC acting
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BBC's News at Ten frontman Huw Edwards is said to be "very cross" about the way he has been treated and is thought to be set to leave the BBC after an internal inquiry has been carried out. Huw was suspended from his work duties with the BBC in July after it was reported that he had paid a teenager £35,000 in exchange for sexually explicit images.