Slam dunk ?

 Will the BBC get a kicking today - and does it deserve it ?

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will have choreographed her meeting today with BBC DG Tim Davie, and the outcome will have been informally agreed. Expect 'review' from both parties. 

The timeline is important. We don't know how long Huw Edwards was in hospital care after his wife revealed he was being treated for 'serious mental issues' in July 2023. We don't know what sort of dialogue the BBC had with the presenter about the investigation into his conduct, and whether the presenter ever faced an internal hearing. We don't know, but presume, he was out of hospital when arrested by the Met on November 8th 2024; we don't know what, if any, continuing medication he might have been receiving, given his admitted history of depression. We don't know who in the Met informed the BBC of the arrest, and at what level, and in what terms. 

Whilst the discovery of child sexual abuse images on a phone looks like an easy call for a fast prosecution, there are processes to follow on the 'opening' of attachments and expert identification of the age of those in the photos. Remember, Alex Williams, the 25-year-old from Merthyr Tydfil, named yesterday by the Met as Huw Edwards' supplier, wasn't put on trial til March this year. 

(As a sidebar, Williams seems to have committed the graver offence of 'distribution' and has only been given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years). 

So who was handling the Huw Edwards case at the BBC from November 8th last year until his resignation, and, indeed, to the events of this week ?  Was it a "Gold Command" issue, because of the reputational risk throughout, led by the DG himself ?  Who advised, post November 8th, that Huw should stay on the pay roll unless and until charged ?  Was that decision taken on employment law advice, or medical advice about 'duty of care' ?