Suspended BBC presenter should not be named using parliamentary privilege, cabinet minister urges MPs
A cabinet minister has cautioned MPs against using parliamentary privilege to name the BBC presenter who has been suspended over allegations he paid a teenager for sexually explicit photographs.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride told Sky’s Kay Burley the facts appeared to have changed in the last 24 hours and MPs should wait to “see where all of this lands” before the presenter is named and that “privilege… should be used sparingly”.
Speculation continues to mount about the identity of the broadcaster, whom the BBC suspended on Sunday after the claims were reported in The Sun.
It comes as the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie faces the media today as the controversy over the top presenter deepens.
A number of high-profile presenters at the BBC – including 5 Live’s Nicky Campbell, Eurovision’s Rylan and Top Gear’s Paddy McGuinness – have all been forced to publicly deny they are the one who has been suspended after social media users named them online.
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There have been growing calls for the accused presenter to name themselves to prevent the spotlight wrongfully falling on other colleagues, while the Daily Mail reported that some MPs are considering naming the individual concerned.
Parliamentary privilege is a right granted to MPs that allows them to speak freely in the Commons chamber without being subject to laws around slander.
Asked by Sky News’ Kay Burley whether the presenter should be named, Mr Stride said: “Those decisions have to be taken on the known facts. And it seems to me that even the apparent known facts seem to be changing within 24 hours.”
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BBC and The Sun face serious questions
Pressed on whether he would “implore” his colleagues not to name the presenter using parliamentary privilege, Mr Stride replied: “I can only speak for myself – that’s a very personal thing.
“I would personally certainly not be doing that.
“Members of parliament do have a right to privilege and to be able to say things in the Commons without fear of legal repercussions.
“But I think that is a privilege that should be used very sparingly and with great thought.
“I would want to see process continue here as quickly as possible. And that is what the secretary of state, media and culture, has been doing, has been pressing the BBC to do that.
Could the BBC presenter be outed by an MP?
As the BBC presenter at the centre of pay-for-images allegations remains anonymous, there is the possibility an MP or peer could name the star.
Parliamentary privilege is a right dating back to 1689 which protects parliamentarians from being sued, for example on the grounds of defamation.
It has been used to expose corruption or criminal activity, but more recently – and controversially – to name rich and famous people protected by the courts.
For example, back in 2011, Ryan Giggs was named as the “married footballer” with an injunction, after tabloid reports that he had an affair with a reality star.
He was named by former Lib Dem MP John Hemming, who campaigned against secrecy in the family courts, but was criticised by some colleagues for going against a court order.
The retail tycoon Philip Green was by Lord Hain, back in 2018, using privilege, as the mystery businessman involved in allegations of misconduct, reported by the Daily Telegraph.
The peer later said: “What concerned me about this case was wealth, and power than comes with it, and abuse, and that was what led me to act in the way that I did.”
In the case of the BBC presenter, there is no specific injunction we know of, but he is unnamed because of the tightening of privacy laws particularly after the case of Sir Cliff Richard, who was paid damages by the BBC after being named as part of a police investigation.
Both Conservative cabinet minister Mel Stride and Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News this morning they would not name the presenter, although some newspapers report that other MPs are discussing it.
Although they have legal protection, MPs are likely to be wary of the many disputed claims in this case with regards to naming.
The former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson faced calls to resign after he named public figures in parliament accused of involvement in child abuse by Carl Beech, who was later revealed to have fabricated the allegations and was jailed.
“I’m as confident I can be that they will be now moving at pace. I think we have to see where all of this lands and then start to make these judgements about whether things were done the right way or not, whether people should be named or not, and so on and so forth.”
Mr Stride’s comments come as Mr Davie prepares to speak to journalists about the broadcaster’s annual report, which is set to reveal how much its biggest stars are paid.
The story took a further development on Monday night after the young person at the centre of the controversy released a statement to the BBC saying that nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened, while also describing allegations made by The Sun as “rubbish”.
Their lawyer added that the 20-year-old is estranged from their mother and stepfather, who made the claims to the newspaper.
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‘We need a detailed account of what happened, but BBC needs time’
In response, the young person’s mother told The Sun she stood by her claims and said the presenter had “got into their head”. She also questioned how they were able to afford legal representation.
Read more:
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Mr Stride’s warnings to MPs were also echoed by Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth, who also said he “wouldn’t name him”.
“I know it’s certainly a very sensitive and difficult story for the BBC,” he told Sky News.
“Developments overnight suggest there are some complications and disputes in versions of events.
“I think the most important thing is that this is thoroughly investigated, the BBC look into this all properly and they should be allowed to get on with that.
“I don’t think it’s helpful for politicians to be offering a running commentary or making statements in the House of Commons about who this person might be or not be.”
The moment could have felt so different. It should have felt so different.
It was supposed to come a long time ago, and it was supposed to be the outcome of a peace process, of reconciliation, of understanding, of coexistence and of healing.
If it had happened the right way, then we’d be celebrating two states living alongside each other, coexisting, sharing a capital city.
As it happened: France recognises Palestinian state
Destroyed buildings in Gaza, as seen from Israeli side of the border.
Pic: Reuters
Instead, the recognition of Palestine as a state comes out of the rubble of Gaza.
It has come as a last-ditch effort to save all vanishing chances of a Palestinian state.
Essentially, the countries which have recognised Palestine here at the UN in New York are jumping to the endpoint and hope to now fill in the gaps.
Those gaps are huge.
Even before the horror of the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, there was almost no realistic prospect of a two-state solution.
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Two-state solution in ‘profound peril’
Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and Benjamin Netanyahu’s divide-and-conquer strategy for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza had made reconciliation increasingly hard.
The Hamas attack set back what little hope there was even further, while settlement expansion by the Israelis in the West Bank accelerated since then.
An updated map of Israel and Palestine on the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office website after the UK recognised the state of Palestine
The same questions which have made all this so intractable remain.
How to share a capital city? Who controls Jerusalem’s Old City, where the holy sites are located? If it’s shared, then how?
What happens to the settlements in the West Bank? If land swaps take place, then where? What happens to Gaza? Who governs the Palestinians?
And how are the moderates on both sides emboldened to dominate the discourse and the policy?
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Two-state solution ‘encourages terrorism’
Hope rests with Trump
Right now, Palestinian extremism is holding out in Gaza with the hostages, and Israeli extremism is dominant on the other side, with Netanyahu now threatening to fully annex the West Bank as a reaction to the recognition declarations at the UN.
It all feels pretty bleak and desperate. If there is cause for some hope, it rests with Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is the only man who can influence Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu (below). Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
Over the next 24 hours in New York, he will meet key Arab and Muslim leaders from the Middle East and Asia to present his latest plan for peace in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan will all participate in the meeting.
Delegates applaud after Emmanuel Macron announced France’s recognition of a state of Palestine. Pic: AP
They will listen to his plan, some may offer peacekeeping troops (a significant development if they do), some may offer to provide funding to rebuild the strip and, crucially, all are likely to tell him that his Abraham Accords plan – to forge ahead with diplomatic normalisation between Muslim nations and Israel – will not happen if Israel pushes ahead with any West Bank annexation.
Netanyahu will address the UN at the end of the week, before travelling to the White House on Monday, where he will tell Trump what he plans to do next in both Gaza and the West Bank.
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If Trump wants his Abraham Accords to expand and not collapse – and remember the accords represent a genuine diplomatic game changer for the region, one Trump is rightly proud of – then he will force Netanyahu to stop in Gaza and stop in the West Bank.
He is the only man in the world who can.
World
Israel is increasingly ostracised – and no matter how strong its army, it’s not a good place to be
Emmanuel Macron was in his element. Touring the UN’s main hall, hugging fellow leaders before taking to the podium.
He was here to make history. France, the country that carved up the Middle East over a hundred years ago along with Britain, finally giving the Palestinians what they believe is long overdue.
As it happened: France recognises Palestinian state
Yvette Cooper witnessed the event looking on. Her prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, did the same over the weekend. Foregoing such hallowed surroundings, he beat the French to it by a day.
“Peace is much more demanding, much more difficult than all wars,” said Macron, “but the time has come.”
There were cheers as he recognised the state of Palestine.
The time for what? Not for peace that is for sure. The war in Gaza rages and the West Bank simmers with settler violence against Palestinians.
The French and British believe Israel is actively working against the possibility of a Palestinian state. Attacks on Palestinians, land seizures, the relentless pace of settlement construction is finishing off the chances of a two-state solution to the conflict, so time for unilateral action they believe.
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Could UK recognition of Palestinian state affect US relationship?
Without the horizon of a state of their own, Palestinians will resort to more and more extreme means.
The Israelis say they have already done so on 7 October and this move only rewards the wicked extremism of Hamas.
But the Netanyahu government has undeniably sought to divide and weaken the Palestinians and has always opposed a Palestinian state.
Israel still has the support of Donald Trump, but opinion polls suggest even in America public sentiment is moving against them. That shift will be hard to reverse.
Read more:
Will Trump force Netanyahu’s hand?
More than three quarters of the UN’s member nations now recognise a state of Palestine, four out of five of the security council’s permanent members.
The move is hugely problematic. Where exactly is the state, what are its borders, will it now be held to account for its extremists, who exactly is its government?
But more and more countries believe it had to happen. That leaves Israel increasingly ostracised and for a small country in a difficult neighbourhood that is not a good place to be, however strong it is militarily.
China will evacuate 400,000 people over a super typhoon that slammed into the Philippines and Taiwan today.
Super Typhoon Ragasa, which is heading to southeastern China, has sustained winds of 134mph.
Thousands of people have already been evacuated from homes and schools in the Philippines and Taiwan, with hundreds of thousands more to leave their homes in China.
Filipino forecasters said it slammed into Panuitan Island off Cagayan province with gusts of up to 183mph on Monday.
More than 8,200 were evacuated to safety in Cagayan while 1,220 fled to emergency shelters in Apayao, which is prone to flash floods and landslides.
The projected route of Super Typhoon Ragasa, by the Japanese Typhoon Centre. Pic: Japan Meteorological Agency
Domestic flights were suspended in northern provinces hit by the typhoon, and fishing boats and inter-island ferries were prohibited from leaving ports over rough seas.
In Taiwan’s southern Taitung and Pingtung counties, closures were ordered in some coastal and mountainous areas along with the Orchid and Green islands.
Officials in southern Chinese tech hub, Shenzhen, said they planned to relocate around 400,000 people including people in low-lying and flood-prone areas.
Strong waves batter Basco, Batanes province, northern Philippines, on Monday. (AP Photo/Justine Mark Pillie Fajardo)
Shenzhen’s airport added it will halt flights from Tuesday night.
In Fujian province, on China’s southeast coast, 50 ferry routes were suspended.
According to China’s National Meteorological Centre, the typhoon will make landfall in the coastal area between Shenzhen city and Xuwen county in Guangdong province on Wednesday.
The International Space Station captures the eye of Typhoon Ragasa. (Pic: NASA/Reuters)
A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 115mph or higher is categorised in the Philippines as a super typhoon.
The term was adopted years ago to demonstrate the urgency tied to extreme weather disturbances.
Ragasa was heading west and was forecast to remain in the South China Sea until at least Wednesday while passing south of Taiwan and Hong Kong, before landfall on the China mainland.
The Philippines’ weather agency warned there was “a high risk of life-threatening storm surge with peak heights exceeding three metres within the next 24 hours over the low-lying or exposed coastal localities” of the northern provinces of Cagayan, Batanes, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.
Power was cut out on Calayan island and in the entire northern mountain province of Apayao, west of Cagayan, disaster officials said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from Ragasa, which is known locally in the Philippines as Nando.
On Monday, Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr suspended government work and all classes on Monday in the capital, Manila, and 29 provinces in the main northern Luzon region.
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