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>> hello, i am christian fraser. this is the contest. >> a new bbc presenter has been suspended. this is a man who embodied bbc values and has been the face of the bbc. has held the viewer hand through so many momentous and significant parts of our nations history. >> a texas commander concluded that there is no information to indicate a criminal offense has been committed. >> hello. welcome to the program. it is a seismic evening here in

the bbc news room. one of the biggesfaces of bbc news has been named as the presenter, suspended over the alleged inappropriate contact with people much long -- younger than him. we will look at those allegations pray there are more. the police have ended their investigation, which means the case or cases now revert to internal inquiries. should we be looking at the presenters and staff. >> we will talk more about nato. a two day summit with all of the talk about a country that is not yet a member. >> this is bbc news. the presenter accused of a series of misconduct claims has been named hugh edwards. his identity was revealed by his wife. the statement from vicki flynn said this.

in light of the recent reporting regarding the bbc presenter, i am making a statement on behalf of my husband you edwards under what has been five extremely difficult days for our family. i'm doing this out of concern for his mental well-being. and to protect our children. >> he is suffering from serious mental health issues. these are well documented. he is being treated for severe depression in recent years, and the events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters. he has suffered a serious episode and is now receiving inpatient hospital care where he will stay for the receipt -- foreseeable future. once he is well enough, he will address the stories in a been published. >> that statement came after the police confirmed they have ended their -- inquiry into the sons allegations against police indicating no criminal offense has been committed. there is reporting today within

the bbc that they have made contact with three other employees. two of them have since left the corporation. there is an allegation that inappropriate and suggestive messages were sent. my colleague is with me. there was suppression to me out to make a statement, and now we understand why that statement was not forthcoming. we will come to the allegations in a second, but i want to talk about this because it will come as a huge shock to these friends and colleagues in the newsroom. i think you and i would agree. also, to millions of people around the world. those who are so familiar with the face of hugh edwards. >> i was looking back. when he presented the election coverage in 2019, it was the first change a presenter on the

show for four years. the occupied unique role in the usually only have one in the bbc. these were the people who were the faces of great moments in the elections. state occasions. world events. a number of people over the last several years have a position in the bbc. two names were listed. for his name, the one that is revealed, it was reported that one in six the british population knew the name. they been on social media thought it was him or knew enough. five out of six did not. the public face is the face. this is the man for whom it was

all about respect. trust. and above all, dignity. that is what he brought to those moments. if you are presenting the 10:00 news, the 20 year show, you are utterly reliable and trustworthy. somebody that the bbc hopes the audience can trust and respect. you know, you go back to the 90's. he was one of the presenters since the 1990's. this is over 30 years he's been a part of people's daily lives. to hear all of this, and the statement today, and he was yelling when we knew, and you can only feel a sadness -- an enormous sadness first wife and children. how does it reach this stage.

whatever he is done for a person to be inhospitable, he is it history of depression, and his wife saidof course, there are my questions to answer. he will remain a friend a a collie, but also concern for those people who have come forward. for those who didn't feel able to come forward for some reason until the last week. what have we learned about those employees have made allegations? >> there have been one story after another. it began with a story about allegations of sexually explicit photos, a young person. they were said to have been paid to have been paid 35,000 pounds. the statement from the police says that they have spoken to the young person and their family and they say there is no

information that they can see at the moment to suggest a criminal fense has taken place, but it doesn't mean that a line has not been crossed in terms of a relationship with a young person of some form or another. another story came from the sun, talking but a meeting that may have happened in the covid lockdowns. also, further revelations today about what is certainly an inappropriate message or allegation for people who were in the building. all of ■which, this isadde beyond the initial allegation that there are questions to be answered. the bbc had put an investigation on pause because the police were looking into the illegality. but there are many other questions now ordered them to look at. they must be mindful on the

staff. they were responsibility to those who are in a terrible situation at the moment, but also to the staff. they can't say anything. the truth has to be gone through. this will probably not be a quick process. >> no. it's been on pause for several days because the police were conducting an investigation of the -- inquiry to be put on hold. it now seems we've become an abuse of power and paris. this man was very well-paid in a very well respected position. they are lording it over younger members of staff. >> you have to look at the situation of employment. first bow, has he broken a contract? has he broken guidelines?

also, behavior at work. if you've crossed a line, this has been the ongoing story for the last 10 years. u go back to the scandal of jimmy sabol. you also look at flip schofield more recently. there is power and relationships. it is whether or not people question or are able to question if you have lots of power in the industry, the people who sit in the seats are the ones who are deemed too often have power. that is a question where it offer has abuse of power. >> this is important for people watching. i never detected that. a lot of people -- it wasn't obvious. it was quite the reverse. >> entirely the opposite. he was gentlemanly and kind. get information, and he helped

mouse coming up through the ranks. i've always found it very approachable. >> he would speak up for you. in a difficult situation, he would be there. often at your side. that is why it is a shock to the people in the building. there are so many people who like him and feel the sadness. the question is, was there something happening? that is what these -- allegations are looking at. a line was crossed. they are all allegations. nothing has improved and at the moment. that is an investigation. at the moment, there is a man we know suffering a very serious mental health episode in hospital. these to be some sympathy to the family. >> thank you very much. we'll have plenty more analysis

in a minute, but let's pause to look at how we got to this point. the sun carried a mother's claims that thousands operate child with explicit images over three years for the claim to started when they were 17. an eventual criminal offense. criminal allegations were published on saturday. the bbc suspended a male member of staff known to be hugh edwards. bbc executives met with the metropolitan police which started their work to assess evidence while a 20-year-old mentioned in the first story claimed that the claims -- a this was a statement made by lawyers were absolutely rubbish. the sun publish further allegations and presented lockdown rules to visit a younger man on allegations, direct messages with someone under 18. they said that the bbc news

publish claims and sent messages to a person in their early 20's, and just before 6:00, the met police confirmednd assess that there was no evidence of criminal activity after reading with those involved in the investigation. wii's start inquiry. at the same time, hugh edwards issued a statement confirming he was involved. he said that he was in a hospital after serious mental health episodes and in his statement, the husband intended to respond to the stories that were being published wants he was able to do so. let's bring in roger bolton. he is a former bbc executive, now independent. thank you for being with us. i want to focus if we can on the victims. police say they have not discovered anything that has risen to criminality, but there were plenty of allegations that the bbc were looking at.

what will be uppermost in their mind? >> i'm not sure. i have real reservations about the previous interview and what he just been doing. this man is now clearly doing with mental health issues. before he put forward allegations, further allegations, we need to test them in some way. we have a danger of handling a litany of allegations to which he cannot spohn. wouldn't it be more sensible to let the bbc investigate these things and publish the results, rather than outlining them. do you know whether these allegations are correct? do you have evidence to support it? i think you've got to be very careful. >> you make a very important point. a lot of people have questioned whether a person of high profile is entitled to a private life

did of course we talk over the course of the last few days, but a person in this position is entitled to a reasonable amount of ivc. do you have concerns that we are getting to close to the problems here with headlines that are too much? >> yes i do. it is very important that the news demonstrates their independence at the report unflinchingly. i think you've done that, but over the last day or so, it's become almost self obsessed, your coverage. i think the proem is there's so much going on in the world, and you keep on reporting this but it a great length. now, we know. from the beginning, the family involved in these complaints were clearly having issues and there are victims there that had a family day. we clearly know the case, and

the presenters must be suffering terribly. we note they are suffering terribly. and we know there's no evidence at the moment to gi because -- because the prosecution print we know that they are presenting an internal investigation, but they did do that. let them gather or test these allegations, and let them publish what there is, but in the meantime, why don't we say to the newspaper, you publish these allegations, you give the detail you will give. at they got details of the transfers? they haven't put that forward, and a lot of editors are asking the same question. i think it is about time, first of all, that they print -- reduce the level -- level of coverage. you test the allegations must more than you have, and you

focus and put questions to the sun newspaper about what they did in the first place. i would ask all of those mps, lee edwards and so on, who quickly said let's name this person and so they were going to name him as promised to reflect upon the true tragedies we've got in this case. we should be very careful. quickly meet ask you this. let me read you a statement. they say they have no plans to publish are there allegations, and they will not cooperate with the bbc in its internal investigation. there will be an inevitable question asked about the summon and whether it should be publish. >> you said it was premature, but the evidence refuses to comment read the editor has refused to be interviewed as far as i can see. there are big questions to ask

about their behavior and the behavior of mps and others about this. this is not -- this is a personal tragedy. it was blurred into being a great scandal. the bbc should say whatever. it is not that at all. this is not what has been. >> all that said. you are a former bbc executive. i just want to get an idea in my mind. you have the brightest and best talent facing allegations, a variety of allegations from different people. where do you start and what are you trying to ascertain. people want to know now. through the internal inquiry. what questions are you trying to answer. >> are allegations all the time on the internet. the bbc says they are dealing with 250 at the time this one

came up. we are about to move into a situation where we have deepfake videos and ai, so this is going to come again and again. first book, we have to find out if there is any evidence and we have to tested. then you have to give the presenter and opportunity, whoever it is, to answer it did then you have to make a difficult decision and the balance between the right to privacy and in the interest of everyone, if it should be taken. until this is resolved. you take that decision, but i'm not sure they could've done anything else. the responsibility to the public , the responsibility to the individual involved, and also concerns about what happened today with mental health of people and you have to be truly careful, but you have to have some testing before you move into something which is career

threatening. i agree with the general point with a very powerful man who caved in ways which they've abuse their power. that is undoubtedly true. we must be aware of it, but we shouldn't automatically assume that every allegation is true. >> roger is right. nothing is proving it. but the allegations that have been made public, you can argue as to whether the bbc should be putting this in a public debate, but the allegations in the public domain have felt uncomfortable. the comments were about people stress and that they strayed when you look over a line that has been stray. what do you thi the bbc should do? works they will be looking at potential abuse of power. they will be looking at whether or not there was a breach of

guidelines, especially with the safeguarding, and they wilalso look at the issue of someone in his position. there is an extra requirement of someone in his position. they should conduct themselves in a certain way. this, there might be something more serious or there might be nothing at all, but it is about going through all of this litany of allegations, and interesting is that the source of the allegations are headlines in the sun, some of them are work from the journalists who publish stories about it. these have been made public the bbc has to carry out investigations. it's on all sides. >> hockey answer the point, and anecdotally, a lot of people have asked me this. it is a strange position when

the bbc stops to run investigations and in a sense is trolling for allegations. >> there were abuse programs in the building. none of them are rising to commonality. they have yet to be tested. yet, we are putting them on a news bulletin. >> there is a question for the individual parts. it is interesting because you have to divide things that are very confusing. this is one of those times i find myself standing outside saying that the bbc is not available for comment, and i think people go -- aren't you the bbc? it is understanding the difference between bbc news, which is an independent organization, or corporate bbc. there are chinese walls that exist in the organization that complicate even for those within it, but there is an interesting

situation where people carry on without fear or favor, investigating the story and publishing the elements to it. there is a corporate side that makes people say hang on. what boundaries have been crossed, and what can we decide at the end of the day. we are waiting for a corporate response. the press office is not yet responding to the latest develop and spread less look at a legal aspect of the story and bring in steve. he is a media partner at manchester. we've talked in recent days about a reasonable ride that someone has with vinci in investigation. it is a family that is now putting a name in the public domain. i can well expect that it will now be open season. what theeople have to consider -- what do people have to consider?

the press will seem to indicate that things will go slightly quite. there is an impression that is justified in their sources, justified in the way that they have this particular story, and they now have a rage that will contain one. they will hopefully have much-needed support, and i would imagine things would have otheise been in taken with how the stories in wanted and how it is an extremely wide social media activity. it will be tested over the next few days and weeks, but they simply still have some time before we know all the details of the story. >> i think just as was said the other day, this is a difficult balance. with care, investigating the allegations, and answering a

legitimate public interest in the story. why do you think, given the statement tonight and specifically the detail we've had, why do you think the sun newspaper is deciding not to publish further allegations? ask -- >> there's a lot of discussion over this over the last few days about the state of expectations and the investigations. that starts with the cliff richards case, the bloomberg case fairly recently. but we thinking very carefully about if this is doing harm, and it potentially has ethical harm to a lot of people. not the least of which is huw edwards. that will affect any claiming or work going forward. a legal claim with anyone involved. but it has been reported very carefully for different reasons. he has not been named, and as

evidence the -- has not been shared, we are going to see a great deal of speculation across cial media, we certainly haven't heard the last of this issue. >> thank you for that final word. 50 seconds, but we will point out that he is not resigned. he remains the employee, and he is still working. >> there is a process, but the thing you take away is the thing i think you first hear about this. i was utterly shocked when i heard this, and i think many other people will be when they hear his name. and, he is obviously a very -- in a very difficult situation, but there is a process. thank you very much. plenty more to come.

narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news".