BBC chairman Richard Sharp confident he was ‘appointed on merit’ after Boris Johnson loan row
Richard Sharp has said there was “no conflict of interest” over his role in helping Boris Johnson secure a loan before being appointed BBC chairman.
He said he is confident he was given the job “on merit” after an investigation was launched into his hiring.
The BBC is also reporting that Mr Sharp has no plans to stand down despite scrutiny of his appointment.
Politics live: Tory party turning on Zahawi
The former banker has confirmed he introduced his close friend Sam Blyth to cabinet secretary Simon Case in late 2020, to discuss whether Mr Blyth could act as a guarantor for a loan facility for Mr Johnson.
The talks took place while Mr Johnson was still prime minister, and while Mr Sharp was in the process of applying to be BBC chair.
In an interview with the broadcaster today, Mr Sharp said that a decision was made by Mr Case that there was no conflict of interest, nor the perception of one.
He said: “Having had a discussion with the cabinet secretary about avoiding a conflict – and the perception of conflict – I felt comfortable and I still feel there was no conflict because at that stage what I was seeking to do was to ensure the process was followed exactly by the book, and that the process hadn’t started, of any kind, in terms of any support that Sam [Blyth] was going to provide to the prime minister.”
Mr Blyth is a multimillionaire Canadian businessman and distant relative of Mr Johnson.
The Sunday Times reported he ended up being a guarantor of a loan of £800,000 to the former PM, who oversaw Mr Sharp’s appointment.
Asked if he thought he had misled a parliamentary committee or the advisory panel which picked him, Mr Sharp said: “No, I don’t.”
He added: “I had clarified and agreed with the cabinet secretary, both of us had the judgment that I’d avoided a conflict or a perception of conflict.”
Pressed on whether the row was an issue at a time when the BBC is making efforts to be impartial and highlight transparency, Mr Sharp told his own news channel: “Well look I see attacks on the BBC all the time, from the media, and for example social media, and they attack our impartiality.
“And I think the governance we put in place is extremely strong on impartiality and I’ll be talking about it later today, precisely because we should be judged by our output. “
The BBC is reviewing any conflict of interests related to Mr Sharp’s role while William Shawcross, the Commissioner for Public Appointments, has opened an investigation into the competition which led to his appointment.
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Johnson says Richard Sharp ‘knows nothing’ about his finances
Labour has also reported Mr Johnson to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, saying the former prime minister’s financial affairs are “dragging the Conservative Party deeper into yet another quagmire of sleaze”.
On Monday, Mr Johnson told Sky News that Mr Sharp “knows absolutely nothing about my personal finances – I can tell you that for 100% ding-dang sure”.
Rishi Sunak, who is under pressure over Tory Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs, has sought to distance himself from the controversy, saying saying Mr Sharp’s appointment was made by “one of my predecessors”.
Britain plans to equip its armed forces with a homegrown hypersonic cruise missile by the end of the decade, according to a report.
Military chiefs are under pressure to catch up with China, Russia and the US by developing a weapon capable of flying at speeds higher than Mach 5 – five times the speed of sound, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
The Ministry of Defence wants the missile to be designed and built in the UK and to enter service by 2030.
Plans are at an early stage, the newspaper reported, although there is no decision on whether the missile will be launched from land, sea or air.
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence by 2030.
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Ballistic weapons can also reach hypersonic speeds but the difference is in manoeuvrability – ballistic weapons generally have fixed paths but the path of a hypersonic weapon can be changed after launch, making it difficult to destroy.
The US, Russia and China are the main players in the hypersonic weapons race but other countries, such as North Korea, claim to have tested hypersonic weapons.
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The development of hypersonic capabilities is part of Pillar Two of AUKUS – a defence and security pact between the UK, Australia and the US.
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Last month the US tested a hypersonic cruise missile on an atoll in the Marshall Islands in a message to its rival in the Pacific – China. It is the latest in a number of hypersonic weapons tests the country has completed in recent years.
A spokesperson for the MoD would not comment in detail on the development of Britain’s hypersonic missile capability, citing national security, but confirmed “hypersonic technologies to further develop UK sovereign advanced capabilities” were being pursued.
“We continue to invest in our equipment to meet current and future threats,” they added.
World
Sudan: Civilians trapped as UN warns of possible imminent attack on city of al Fashir by Rapid Support Forces
The United Nations has expressed increasing concern over a potential imminent attack on al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur in Sudan.
It comes as residents describe the city as “seriously suffocated” and besieged by Sudanese paramilitary forces known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
A spokesperson for the office of UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said in a statement that “an attack on the city would have devastating consequences for the civilian population”.
“The escalation of tensions is an area already on the brink of famine,” with the rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) appearing to be “positioning themselves”.
The last of Darfur’s five state capitals not under full RSF control, al Fashir city and its 800,000 inhabitants face an uncertain fate as a local ceasefire negotiated in the early days of the conflict has collapsed.
Mr Guterres has reiterated his call on all parties to refrain from fighting in the area.
At least 43 people, including women and children, have reportedly been killed since the RSF began their push into al Fashir earlier this month, Friday’s UN statement continued, and civilians are trapped in the city.
The North Darfur capital and sprawling displacement camps in its suburbs have been a haven for thousands of people displaced by armed conflict and ethnic violence in the region since the early 2000s, including the last year of war between the RSF and SAF.
Sudan was plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023 when tensions between its military, headed by General Abdel Fattah Burhan who leads the SAF, and the RSF paramilitary, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out into street battles in the capital Khartoum.
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Sudan’s health system crippled by conflict
Fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the western Darfur region.
The conflict has left around 25 million people, or half the country’s population, needing humanitarian aid, with over eight million forced to flee their homes, said the UN.
More than 14,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands of others wounded.
Residents have told Sky News the RSF is blocking main arterial routes bringing in goods and fuel to al Fashir, leaving them with dwindling medicine, humanitarian aid and food supplies as increased army airstrikes have hit civilian homes in surrounding areas.
Many fear a telecoms blackout which marked the start of an RSF-led massacre last year in al Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, and December’s siege of Wad Madani, the capital of al Jazira state, as reports mount of an RSF advance.
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The orphaned and disabled children forced to flee fighting in Sudan
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Sudan: A year of war at home
An online video shows a large RSF convoy in the desert, with militiamen yelling “lift your head al Fashir, the steel is coming”.
“Al Fashir is unsafe and an attack is expected at any time. Three days ago, a shell fell into my uncle’s house – only 80 metres from my home. My uncle was injured and my cousin’s son died,” said Mohamed.
“The city is seriously suffocated.”
Fighting displaced 40,615 people in al Fashir between 1 and 16 April, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
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‘Where will people go?’
Aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has said it has responded to three mass casualty events in al Fashir’s South Hospital over the past week and treated over 100 wounded patients.
“The situation is already catastrophic and we are very worried that the escalation in conflict is going to make it even worse,” said MSF spokesperson Kirsty Cameron.
Alarm bells are sounding with little hope of successful intervention.
“Where will people go? People have fled to al Fashir from surrounding areas that are still unsafe. There are no more options for refuge,” said Darfuri journalist and human rights monitor Ahmed Gouja.
“They are forced to surrender to their death.”
Hamas has released a new video that appears to show two hostages who have been held in Gaza since the 7 October assault on southern Israel.
The two men, Keith Siegel, 64, and Omri Miran, 47, speak in the video against an empty background, sending their love to relatives and asking to be released.
The video was released during the Passover holiday, when Jews celebrate the biblical story of gaining freedom from slavery in Egypt.
Sky News has decided not to show the video online.
In the footage, Mr Siegel breaks down in tears as he recalls spending last year’s Passover with his family, saying he hoped they would be reunited.
Mr Miran was taken from his home in Nahal Oz in front of his wife and two daughters, while Siegel, who is a dual US citizen, was abducted with his wife, although she was released during the brief truce in November.
Keith Siegel
Omri Miran
Some 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage during the 7 October Hamas attack, which killed around 1,200 people.
It prompted Israel’s assault on Gaza, as it pledged to destroy Hamas and bring the hostages home.
Some 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
Also on Saturday, Hamas said it was reviewing a new Israeli ceasefire proposal.
Hamas senior official Khalil al Hayya did not share details of Israel’s offer but said it was in response to a Hamas proposal made two weeks ago.
This included a six-week ceasefire, release of 40 civilian and sick hostages, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israel’s foreign minister said on Saturday that the country’s planned incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah could be put on hold if a deal is struck to secure the release of Israeli hostages.
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The hostage situation is putting pressure on Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Pic: Reuters
The prospect of an attack on Rafah has prompted concern from various countries, including Israel’s staunchest ally, the US.
Meanwhile, Egypt also ramped up its efforts to broker a deal that could end the war.
An Egyptian delegation left Israel on Saturday after talks there about a “new vision” for a ceasefire in Gaza.
This would include the release of some hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the return of many displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza with “minimum restrictions”, according to an Egyptian official.
Hamas still wants a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops but Israel has rejected both of these, saying it will continue military operations until Hamas is defeated and it will maintain a security presence in Gaza.
It came as protests continued around the world calling for an end to the conflict, including pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London and at universities across the US.
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