Director-general Tim Davie says he ‘can’t see’ Huw Edwards returning to BBC

By Casey Cooper-Fiske, PA Entertainment Reporter

BBC director-general Tim Davie has said he “can’t see” Huw Edwards ever working for the corporation again after the former presenter admitted accessing indecent images of children as young as seven.

Speaking at the Royal Television Society (RTS) London conference, Mr Davie said Edwards’ crimes were “appalling crimes” and said that the BBC’s reputation was impacted.

He said: “There’s no doubt that an affair like this impacts our reputation, and I don’t know yet in terms of just the direct impact on trust.

“What I would say is we track it very carefully, we’re very mindful that with people, trust in the BBC is essential, and I hope we do the right things.

“I don’t think the public is stupid, they can see when we’re taking actions, acting in good faith, and trying to get through things in a calm and fair manner.

“And in the end, I think people are smart and they’ll make their judgments, and I’ll see what we do, and I think overall, there’s no doubt about it, these things impact your reputation, but you can maintain trust by doing the right thing.”

Presenter Amol Rajan then asked Mr Davie why Edwards’ pay continued after the BBC was made aware of charges against the 63-year-old.

He replied that “we decided that pay continues until someone is charged” and added: “I think it was the right decision based on current policy.”

Rajan then asked Mr Davie if Edwards would ever work for the BBC again, he replied: “I can’t see that.

“For obvious reasons, this man has has just been convicted of appalling crimes, and it’s pretty straightforward in my mind that I can’t see him working at the BBC.”

He was also asked how the BBC was getting back Edwards’ £200,000 salary. He replied: “We want the money back and we’ve asked for it back, and we’re waiting to hear back.”

Mr Davie said: “There’s been discussions between legal teams, and I believe that’s as far as we can go at this point.”

He was also asked what will happen to archived content of the presenter, and said the BBC has “never completely banned and ripped someone out of the archive” and added “we’ve got a lot of experience in this”.

 

The director-general said: “There may be a documentary, a contextual piece, where we’re seeing images from people who are no longer working with us (who) have been, frankly, disgraced.

“That’s how it operates, so we’ll have the editorial control of that.

“I’m not seeing a scenario in which any Huw Edwards material is used in day-to-day programming or anything else.

“But I think it’s wrong of a media organisation or the BBC, with its archive, to say you will never see an image of an individual again.”

Mr Davie said victims’ families are the “primary concern” and said that young people who raised concerns over Edwards were “taken seriously” at the time allegations were made.

The director-general said: “The primary concern is for victims, families or a family. It’s really important that we don’t get wholly internally driven on these things.

“And the secret life this guy was leading was shocking.

“Now there comes the point, when The Sun did their work and we suspended, to be fair, we suspended immediately, it was quick.

“And then we said, OK, what we do need to look at, is there anything else out there?

“And at that point, you get people coming in who don’t think they were, everyone is listened to, everyone is taken seriously.”

He added: “We’re just shocked, and there’s a lot of upset because across the BBC, we’ve got great teams, good people and they feel deeply, deeply let down.”

Rajan then asked Mr Davie about the corporation’s report into allegations of abuse on Strictly Come Dancing, which he replied was “pretty close to the end”.

He was then asked if it would have been “useful to report it before the new Strictly series started”.

Mr Davie replied: “Many things in life would be useful, but we have to do the process.”

Mr Davie added that he thought it was “unfair” to say that the talent in the television industry got “indulged and excused”.

 

He said he was “optimistic” that the BBC “is changing” and added that the BBC was now “50% over-50 women”.

Mr Davie said: “I think the environment’s different, I think this is why it hurts so much when these things happen, but we have to prove we’re only as good as our actions.

“So you have to get on with it.”

Mr Davie went on to say that the BBC World Service “needs to be funded outside the licence fee”.

But he said the corporation would still continue to fund the World Service “at the level it’s at”.

He said: “I’ll be very clear that the World Service needs to be funded outside the licence fee.”

Mr Davie was then asked how it would be funded instead, to which he replied: “We will continue to support the World Service at the level it’s at, which you know the Government put in £104 million as well. So you’re nearly at £300 million, that is enough to (be) just holding on.

“My view is, if you look what China’s investing, Russia, £6 billion to £8 billion now. Voice Of America does a good job, about £900 million.

“I think the Government and all of us, have a real choice around soft power and the UK mojo abroad.”