Next

Contrary to this morning's newspaper headlines, I think Tim Davie is largely 'through' this current unpleasant crisis.  Key decisions about what happened in this relationship between a staff presenter, his alleged victim and their family, are now for the police; the Culture Secretary has deemed herself satisfied with the speed of what's happened since Thursday. 

The remaining problem is how the original complaint was 'triaged'. Who exactly did the family contact at the BBC on 19th May, and what did they do about it ?   The BBC has a reasonable record on tracking programme complaints, which are easier to understand, either by phone, email or letter. But did this complaint come to the department which directly employs the presenter, or to HR, or to the DG's Office - and why did it lie there for 48 days ? 

The family say this relationship has been going on since 2020 - it's entirely possible and reasonable that no-one at the BBC could have known about it. How the two came to connect matters - clearly the family describe a needy 17-year-old and a 'household' name. The BBC has to hope Auntie did not facilitate.