BBC presenter scandal: Culture secretary to hold talks with corporation over explicit photo claims
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer is to hold talks with the BBC director-general Tim Davie on Sunday over “deeply concerning” allegations about one of its presenters.
The unnamed star is alleged to have paid a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit images.
The presenter allegedly first requested images from the youth in 2020 when they were aged 17 and has made a series of payments over the years, according to The Sun.
In a statement ahead of the meeting, a Department of Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said: “These allegations are deeply concerning.
Culture secretary Lucy Frazer
“As a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding, senior officials have stressed to the BBC that the allegations must be investigated urgently and sensitively, with the department kept informed.
“The culture secretary will be speaking to Tim Davie later today.”
BBC Director-General Tim Davie
In new allegations published in The Sun on Sunday, the young person’s mother said she was “shocked” when her child showed her a screenshot of the video chat, in which the well-known presenter was sitting in his boxer shorts on a sofa at his home.
She said the man appeared to be “leaning forward, getting ready for my child to perform for him.”
“My child told me, ‘I have shown things’ and this was a picture from some kind of video call,” she added.
The newspaper did not say when the alleged incident happened.
The mother also said that earlier this year she was shocked when she overheard the presenter “on the phone saying to my child: ‘I told you not to f***ing ring me’.”
No one involved has been named, but The Sun said the presenter has not been suspended. It is understood he is still being paid his six-figure salary in full.
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What we know about claims against BBC star
The newspaper said the family made a complaint on 19 May but came forward to The Sun after becoming frustrated that the man was still on air a month later.
The mother said her child told her they had also received a payment of £1,000 via PayPal in June which suggested that the “BBC hadn’t spoken to this man” in the weeks after the initial complaint.
The presenter is now off-air and the BBC has reportedly launched an investigation, although the corporation has not confirmed this.
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Several political figures have been critical of the BBC’s handling of the allegations, with Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves telling Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme that the allegations were “deeply concerning”.
“The idea that some presenters think they act with impunity and they can get away with these sorts of things – it does call into question the ethics, the investigations, how long these things take,” she said.
“And the BBC, but also other broadcasters, do need to get a grip because we seem to lurch from one scandal to another, and more needs to be done.”
Assisted dying could become legal in England and Wales after the bill was backed by MPs in a historic vote.
Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill received 330 yes votes compared to 275 noes at its second reading in the House of Commons – a majority of 55.
Politics Live: MPs voting on historic assisted dying legislation
The bill would allow adults who are terminally ill with just six months left to live to request medical assistance to end their lives.
Today’s result means the legislation will now progress to the committee stage for scrutiny, with the Lords also to be given opportunities to express their views on the measure before it potentially becomes law.
MPs were given a free vote – meaning they could side with their conscience and not along party lines, with the government staying neutral on the matter.
The division list showed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer backed the proposal, as did Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
But other cabinet members like Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood voted against the bill, having previously warned about vulnerable people being coerced and of a “slippery slope of death on demand”.
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MPs debate assisted dying
The vote came after a five-hour debate in the chamber, which drew emotional arguments on both sides.
Conservative former minister Andrew Mitchell revealed he changed his mind on assisted dying after finding himself with “tears pouring down my face” on hearing the stories of constituents whose loved ones had died “in great pain and great indignity”.
On the other side of the argument, veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott said assisted dying could result in sick people “feeling like a burden” on society, adding: ” I can imagine myself saying that in particular circumstances.”
She warned: “If this bill passes, we will have the NHS as a fully-funded 100% suicide service but palliative care will only be funded at 30% at best.”
Bill about ‘choice and dignity’
Opening the debate on the topic, Labour backbencher Ms Leadbeater said the bill was about giving dying people “choice, autonomy, and dignity” – saying the current law was “failing” them.
Kim Leadbeater: PA
Read More:
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Five stories that bring the assisted dying debate home
She has insisted her bill contains “the most robust safeguards” of any assisted dying legislation in the word.
This includes two independent doctors having to approve the decision, followed by a high-court judge, with the person having to administer the drugs themselves.
The legislation also includes a maximum 14-year prison sentence for anyone who coerces someone into requesting assisted dying or taking the medicine.
Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby after the vote, an emotional Ms Leadbeater said she was “incredibly proud” of the result and parliament must now “take on board everything that’s been discussed in the chamber”, including the state of palliative care and the rights of disabled people.
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