SPENCER: NOW POLICE MUST PROBE THE BBC
PRINCESS Diana’ s brother last night demanded Scotland Yard investigate the BBC over her Panorama interview.
Earl Spencer has written to
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, alleging his sister was the victim of blackmail and fraud, the Mail can reveal.
It will dramatically intensify the pressure on the Met for a full probe into how Martin Bashir induced Diana to agree to the 1995 bombshell broadcast.
Yesterday, the force promised it would ‘assess’ any new evidence in Lord Dyson’s explosive report on the affair. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said the former judge’s findings raised ‘very serious issues’ – and suggested ‘fraud’ and ‘forgery’ may have occurred.
The has been plunged into one of the worst crises in its history by the explosive fallout from the scandal, with Princes William and Harry accusing the corporation of ruining their mother’s
life with its ‘ deceitful’ exclusive. Yesterday, Boris Johnson weighed into the row, warning the BBC: ‘Nothing like this must ever happen again.’
And as ministers threatened a major shake-up of the national broadcaster, William privately vowed to continue his battle to uncover ‘the truth’ about how his mother came to be callously duped. On a dramatic day:
■ Under-fire former director-general Lord Hall’s post as chairman of the National Gallery was branded ‘untenable’;
■ Tim Suter, another ex-BBC chief, fell on his sword by leaving a senior role at broadcast regulator Ofcom;
■ Ofcom said Lord Dyson’s finding were of ‘great concern’ and it would be ‘discussing with the BBC what further actions may be needed’;
■ It emerged the BBC could be compelled to set up a separate, independent editorial board to oversee its journalism;
■ Decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee could be back on the agenda;
■ It was claimed a BBC executive had once boasted that faking documents was ‘general practice’;
■ Bosses were accused of orchestrating a campaign to smear staff speaking out as ‘jealous’ rivals;
■ A parliamentary committee also demanded urgent answers as to why the corporation had rehired Bashir despite knowing he had lied to secure the Diana interview;
■ Victims of Bashir branded grovelling apologies from the BBC ‘too little, too late’ and vowed to seek compensation;
■ Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith called for a review by Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill QC;
■ It emerged that BBC directorgeneral Tim Davie had written to staff at the corporation and said lessons must be learnt following Lord Dyson’s report.
It is understood Earl Spencer initially wrote to Dame Cressida in January, and has been in regular touch with the head of the specialist crime squad, Commander Alex Murray. According to a friend, Earl Spencer claimed several crimes had been committed. He believed his vulnerable sister was spun a web of lies by Bashir who had established ‘coercive control’ over her.
By filling her mind with terrifying conspiracy theories and tricking her into the interview, he claims the rogue BBC reporter and his superiors had committed blackmail, fraud and obtaining property by deception – because the corporation cashed in when rights to the sensational interview were sold around the world.
Bashir commissioned forged bank statements in flagrant breach of BBC rules to convince Earl Spencer to introduce him to Diana, Lord Dyson concluded in his excoriating inquiry.
BBC bosses are said to have orchestrated a campaign to smear staff speaking out against Bashir as jealous rivals. Alison Jackson, a publicity officer for Panorama, said she was told to tell the Panorama team that stories about Bashir’s use of fake bank statements were being leaked by ‘jealous colleagues’.
Asked about the Dyson report, the Prime Minister said: ‘I’m obviously concerned by the findings. I can only imagine the feelings of the Royal Family and I hope very much that the BBC will be taking every possible step to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.’
Home Secretary Priti Patel said there were ‘very strong searching questions’ for the BBC. And there was renewed fury yesterday among some of the victims of the smears and lies peddled by Bashir.
BBC graphics artist Matt Wiessler – sacked as a troublemaker but vindicated after 25 years by Lord Dyson – said a generic letter of apology was ‘too little, too late’. He demanded a personal apology from Lord Hall, adding: ‘Why is Tony Hall not apologising to me? I’m just gobsmacked. What I want is real people to admit to having done something wrong.’
Former BBC chairman Lord Grade said: ‘It has taken 26 years to get to the truth here. It’s the
cover-up – as the BBC would be screaming if it was an outside organisation who’d covered up something like this.’
In the Commons, media select committee chairman Julian Knight said there ‘serious questions still left to answer’ and revealed he was demanding Mr Davie answer them. When asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether the police should be involved, Justice Secretary Mr Buckland said: ‘That, of course, is a matter for the police and the independent prosecutorial authorities, and I’m not going to say anything to prejudge or to influence any such line of inquiry.
‘But I think anybody reading the headlines and the summary of Lord Dyson’s findings will be struck by his use of those words, fraud and deception and the like, and clearly those sort of issues, I’m afraid, could and do arise.’
In an email to staff, Mr Davie said: ‘This has been a difficult week. Alongside the very significant impact on those directly affected by Lord Dyson’s report, I know that people across the organisation feel deeply let down by the findings that we published yesterday.
‘This is particularly upsetting as I know how hard you all work to ensure we deliver journalism and programming that is fair, honest and of the very highest quality. That is what makes Lord Dyson’s findings so shocking for us.
‘We have much to reflect on. I know that we now have significantly stronger processes and governance in place to ensure that an event like this doesn’t happen again. However we must also learn lessons and keep improving.’
‘Particularly upsetting’
Veteran BBC reporter John Ware, who investigated the scandal for a Panorama special, accused corporation top brass who investigated Bashir in 1996 of a ‘staggering lack of curiosity’.
And veteran BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell – who Lord Dyson said had been lined up to interview Diana – said: ‘ I was then instructed on September 2, 1995, by the then- editor of Panorama, Stephen Hewlett, to back off so that a man called Martin Bashir could be given a clear run.
‘I have always wondered in the years since then how it was that Martin Bashir succeeded in getting alongside the princess. ‘Well, now we know.’
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