Peston wades in over Beeb’s sex-pest claims

FLOPPY-HAIRED Westminster watcher Robert peston has mischievously added his pennyworth to the scandal surrounding the blizzard of allegations of sexual harassment.

the ITV political editor, who used to work for the BBC, has said a malign culture of sexism has existed at the Corporation for many years.

his comments come as the BBC’s deputy director-general, anne Bulford, says that 25 ‘live cases’ of possible sex harassment are currently being investigated — compared with only three complaints in the whole of last year.

peston, the Beeb’s former economics editor, said: ‘Most conversations I have with women in my industry right now move swiftly to stories of how they lived for years with uninvited lunges from colleagues, lewd comments and schoolboy electronic messages — “I can see your knickers”.’

he told the New Statesman magazine: ‘the BBC, which employed me for years, has a tawdry history of putting the reputation of the institution ahead of the welfare of female staff. Not many years ago, women who complained about the predatory sexual behaviour of bosses were encouraged not to make a fuss — and were stealthily moved to new jobs.

‘their bosses might have been quietly told to show more common sense, but serious sanctions were there none.’

So why on earth didn’t peston raise his concerns with BBC management at the time?