'Huw Edwards should return his salary', Culture Secretary says, after disgraced TV star paid £200k following arrest
2 August 2024, 12:28
The Culture Secretary has said that disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards should repay the hundreds of thousands of pounds he was paid after his arrest for making indecent child photos.
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Edwards, one of the BBC's top earners, was paid £200,000 after his arrest last November as part of his annual salary of around £475,000.
The 62-year-old married father of five pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photos of children on Wednesday.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy met BBC boss Tim Davie on Thursday to discuss the Edwards case, after it emerged that the BBC knew about his arrest in November - five months before he quit in April.
Ms Nandy said on Friday that Edwards "ought to return his salary."
"I think having been arrested on such serious charges all the way back in November, to continue to receive that salary all the way through until he resigned is wrong and it's not a good use of taxpayers' money," she told Sky News.
"I think most people in the country will agree with that but whether he does that or not is up to him."
The Met has confirmed that it told the BBC in "strict confidence" about the arrest of Huw Edwards in November, before he resigned from the corporation in April.
The corporation makes a distinction between Edwards' arrest and charge, which came in June - two months after he left.
They said that if Edwards had been charged while he was still an employee it would have sacked him, but at the point of charge he no longer worked for the corporation.
Mr Davie said on Thursday that the corporation made "difficult decisions in a fair and judicious manner" and added that it was not sitting on any evidence.
The director-general said: "We knew it was serious, we knew no specifics, apart from the category of the potential offences."
Asked about whether Edwards would still receive his pension, Mr Davie said it was "very difficult to claw back, nigh on impossible", adding: "These are unfortunately the specifics of how it works.
"When it comes to pay, again, legally challenging, but we’ll look at all options."
The BBC said in a statement after Edwards' guilty plea: "In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.
"At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health."
The corporation added: "The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.
"Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court.
"If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.
"During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions."
Edwards admitted three charges of making indecent photographs, after he was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams, including one of a boy as young as seven.
Edwards will next appear in court on September 16.
