‘It’s absolutely disgusting!’ BBC reputation ‘in tatters’ after Huw Edwards revelations | UK | News
The BBC’s reputation is now “in tatters” after the “sickening” revelations about disgraced former news presenter Huw Edwards, a campaigner calling for the £169.50 annual licence fee to be scrapped has warned.
Speaking the day after the 62-year-old admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, Rebecca Ryan, campaign director for Defund the BBC, said the episode had caused irreparable damage to society.
Edwards will be sentenced in September after pleading guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday to receiving 41 illegal images from convicted paedophile Alex Williams.
Seven of them were classified as “category A”, the most indecent, with the estimated age of most of the children being between 13 and 15, although one was between 7 and 9.
Williams was charged in connection with his WhatsApp conversation with Edwards and was found guilty of seven offences following an investigation by South Wales Police – receiving a 12-month suspended sentence.
The BBC is under fire after admitting its bosses knew about Edwards’ arrest in November 2023 but continued to employ him until April.
BBC director-general Tim Davie will be questioned by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy over what the corporation knew about the Huw Edwards affair, including why he continued to receive his salary for five months after the affair.
Before he resigned in April on medical advice, Edwards was being paid between £475,000 and £479,999 for the 2023/24 year, according to the BBC’s latest annual report. The latest salary marks a £40,000 increase on 2022/23, when he was paid between £435,000 and £439,999.
Ms Ryan told Express.co.uk: “The fact that Huw Edwards has pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children is absolutely sickening.
“To discover that the BBC used licence fee taxpayers’ money to pay his £479,000 salary for five and a half months after the public broadcaster discovered his arrest will rightly anger many people across the country – not to mention the £40,000 pay rise Edwards received.
“What was the BBC thinking continuing to pay someone arrested for such heinous crimes?”
Her organisation has often accused the BBC of being “out of touch with reality”, Ms Ryan continued.
However, she added: “In this case, the word ‘disconnected’ does not suffice to describe the situation. The BBC needs to answer extremely serious questions about this.”
“Taxpayers have once again been treated deplorably. The company’s reputation has once again been tarnished.”
Edwards’ decision to resign earlier this year was prompted by unrelated allegations that he paid a young man for sexually explicit photos.
Police found no evidence of criminal conduct in the case, but the boy’s mother said she felt vindicated after Edwards’ guilty plea Wednesday.
She said The sun:“It makes me deeply sick that he had these videos of this little boy while he was also talking to my child and asking for sexual pictures.
“I knew he was an abuser, but now I know he’s really a monster.”
She added: “We felt like we were small people and could easily be dismissed. They all said we had ruined Huw’s life and seemed to think we just wanted money.
“Their comments, and those of other presenters like them, provoked a violent reaction that even made me doubt myself. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I felt so alone.
“Even my family members turned against me after reading all this. I wondered if it was worth it. But now I can at least say it was worth it. I hope they apologize.”
