Today programme presenter Anna Foster was left scrambling for words this morning after Robert Jenrick took the BBC to task over its rather unfortunate history of employing sex offenders. The Reform Treasury spokesman was on the airwaves defending his party after an ITV undercover hit job caught a handful of councillors making racist and misogynistic remarks. The low-level politicians in question have since left the party or been suspended.
Pushed on accusations that Reform fails to sufficiently vet its candidates, Jenrick turned the tables on the Beeb:
Can you now give a guarantee to your listeners this morning that no BBC presenter in the future will be exposed as a paedophile – as a number have been in the recent past? No, of course you can’t. Because you can’t know absolutely everything about every individual in your organisation. What I can say is that we’re doing absolutely everything that we possibly can.
Ouch. The national broadcaster is hardly in a position to lecture others on vetting, given its own rather colourful history of scandals – from the horrors of Jimmy Savile to the more recent disgrace of former golden boy Huw Edwards, who pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children. Then there’s Gregg Wallace, dropped from MasterChef following allegations of misconduct, and former BBC radio presenter Russell Brand, currently standing trial on rape and sexual assault charges, all of which he denies. Quite the line-up. Perhaps Broadcasting House ought to get its own house in order before casting stones at Reform…
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