The BBC chairman, the top civil servant and Boris Johnson
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What began as a Sunday Times investigation into Boris Johnson’s finances soon snowballed into a months-long scandal, which led to the resignation of the BBC chairman on Friday. With top civil servant Simon Case now facing calls to quit, could more resignations follow? And will we ever find out who offered to loan Johnson £800,000?
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Guests:
- Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall Editor, The Sunday Times.
- Caroline Wheeler, Political Editor, The Sunday Times.
Producer: Olivia Case.
Clips: Times Radio, Sky News, ITV News.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ever since it was set up in 1927, the British Broadcasting Corporation has had a chairman |
| 0:16.0 | appointed by the government of the day, and ever since then, it's thought to maintain |
| 0:21.4 | its independence from politicians. |
| 0:24.0 | As Lordreeth, the first Director-General, explained in 1960. |
| 0:28.0 | Did you have to battle to establish this independence from the government? |
| 0:34.0 | Yes, yes, when. |
| 0:36.0 | Often, in money, in the financial, that was the first that we came on. |
| 0:43.0 | They very nearly interfered there. |
| 0:45.0 | The prime minister personally, very nearly. |
| 0:49.0 | Before I joined the Times, I worked at the BBC for 17 years. |
| 0:56.0 | And during that time, the BBC board went through half a dozen chairs. |
| 1:01.0 | Some had been appointed by Labour government, others by the Tory government that followed. |
| 1:07.0 | Some had even been politicians before they came to the BBC, but when they did, |
| 1:13.0 | everyone assumed their loyalties shifted. |
| 1:17.0 | It was the BBC they defended, not the government that appointed them. |
| 1:22.0 | But when Richard Sharp became the new chairman in February 2021, |
| 1:27.0 | people I still know at the BBC were alarmed. |
| 1:33.0 | Would be candidates for the BBC chairmanship were being told |
| 1:36.0 | don't bother Boris and Number 10 have decided it's Richard Sharp, |
| 1:40.0 | is a major day into the Tory party. |
| 1:47.0 | At a time when Boris Johnson was threatening to bring down the BBC, |
| 1:51.0 | this was seen as a brazenly political appointment. |
... |
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