The UK will look into how BBC Chairman Richard Sharp was appointed to his role, following allegations by a newspaper that he was recommended for the job weeks after helping then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 ($990,000) loan guarantee.
(Bloomberg) — The UK will look into how BBC Chairman Richard Sharp was appointed to his role, following allegations by a newspaper that he was recommended for the job weeks after helping then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 ($990,000) loan guarantee.
The probe is the second investigation launched into potential government impropriety in a single day.
Commissioner for Public Appointments William Shawcross will review the decision to appoint Sharp, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman Max Blain said Monday. Cabinet Office Minister Jeremy Quin told the House of Commons that there “was a very robust process in place for the appointment.”
The BBC’s board will separately discuss the allegations to ensure all relevant conflicts of interest were properly disclosed, Quin said.
“I welcome any review that will clarify my role in this matter,” Sharp, who has donated £400,000 to the ruling Conservative Party, said in a statement. Sharp said he met Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and “explicitly discussed avoiding a conflict with the appointment process.” The Sunday Times reported that Sharp introduced Case to Sam Blyth, a Canadian businessman, who provided Johnson with the loan guarantee.
The probe into Sharp’s appointment was announced just hours after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asked his independent ethics adviser to investigate the tax affairs of Conservative Party Chairman Nadhim Zahawi. That followed a report that Zahawi paid a £4.8 million UK tax bill, including a 30% penalty for not settling the correct amount at the time. Sunak said on Monday that “clearly in this case there are questions that need answering.”
Read More: Sunak Orders Probe Into Tory Chairman’s UK Tax Affairs
“I am confident I acted properly throughout and look forward to answering any and all specific questions in a formal setting,” Zahawi said in a statement. Given the probe, “it would be inappropriate to discuss this issue any further.”
Spotlight on integrity
The twin inquiries sharpen the focus on Sunak’s pledge when he took office in October to run an administration with “integrity” and “accountability” at every level. While Sunak repeated those words on Monday, he’s facing mounting calls from opposition parties to fire Zahawi, and potentially awkward questions over Johnson’s relationship with Sharp — a former senior banker who was once a colleague of Sunak at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Sunak’s Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab is also subject to a probe — this one into multiple complaints of bullying. Gavin Williamson quit the government late last year over bullying allegations, while Sunak also faced questions over his re-appointment of Home Secretary Suella Braverman less than a week after she resigned over a security breach.
On Friday Sunak received a fixed penalty notice from police in Lancashire, in the north of England, for failing to wear a seat belt in a moving car. That was his second fine in less than a year, following one during the so-called Partygate scandal for breaking Covid-19 rules.
Quin said Monday that “it’s the responsibility of all ministers to ensure that no conflict arises or could reasonably be perceived to arise between their role and their private interests, financial or otherwise,” adding it’s “ultimately incumbent on the individual.”
The Sharpe probe is also a new complication for Johnson, who is himself subject to an investigation into whether he lied to Parliament over the “Partygate” scandal. In a statement, a spokesman for the former prime minister dismissed any suggestion of improper links to Sharp. “This is rubbish. Richard Sharp has never given any financial advice to Boris Johnson, nor has Mr. Johnson sought any financial advice from him,” the spokesman said.
–With assistance from Kitty Donaldson.
(Adds Richard Sharp’s statement in fourth paragraph.)
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