Huw Edwards should return the salary he was paid by the BBC following his arrest, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said.
Nandy said it was “wrong” that the disgraced presenter continued to receive his salary, amounting to around £200,000, between his secret arrest in November last year and his resignation in April.
“I think he should get his pay back,” Nandy said at the Paris Olympics on Friday, two days after Edwards pleaded guilty to obtaining indecent abuse images of children aged just seven.
“I believe it is wrong and not a good use of taxpayer money for him to continue receiving his salary until he resigns after being arrested in November on such serious charges.”
“I think most people in this country would agree with that but it’s up to him to do so,” she told Sky News.
Nandy spoke to BBC director Tim Davie on Thursday after Edwards’ guilty plea, who described Mr Edwards’ plea as: “Very powerful and forthright” The debate comes amid ongoing questions about the broadcaster’s handling of the case.
Mr Davie has faced intense scrutiny over the BBC’s decision to continue paying the presenter’s salary even after being informed by police of his arrest. Said The agency was aware the allegations contained Category A imagery – the most serious level of abuse – but did not know all the details, such as the ages of the victims.
He said he would “examine options” to recover the funds, but said doing so would be “very difficult, almost impossible.”
The BBC has not disclosed the outcome of its internal investigation into Edwards’ conduct at the organisation, or how it has responded to the original complaint against him, made to The Sun in July 2023 by the family of a 17-year-old boy who felt he had not been dealt with seriously.
Edwards has since been suspended but was given a £40,000 pay increase for 2023-4, taking his annual salary to £475,000.
The department said Friday it would not comment on Edwards’ case in detail, citing “privacy and fairness to all involved,” but said it “carefully considered all of the issues raised as part of our fact-finding investigation and reflected those findings in a private disciplinary process,” during which Edwards chose to resign.
The Guardian understands that the initial fact-finding process is due to finish in late 2023.
In a separate interview with BBC News, Nandy appeared to suggest some of the findings should be made public, saying: “I think we all recognise that we have a job to do to make more information public and to reassure people not just about the decisions that have been made but also about any actions that the BBC will take going forward.”
“My concern is to ensure that warning signs are picked up, complaints are addressed, and that as far as is humanly possible, public money is spent appropriately and situations like this are not repeated in the future.”
Two whistleblowers who testified in the internal investigation were arrested this week Criticized Regarding the response, a former BBC staffer who reported that Edwards had sent lewd messages and hotel room photos while covering Prince Philip’s funeral said she felt “the matter was swept under the rug”.
The BBC said: “We [the internal investigation] This may be frustrating for those who speak up… but we are extremely grateful to everyone who speaks up and we will always listen very carefully to anyone who wants to raise their concerns with us.”
