Speeches by Thomas.

“At an organisation as large as the BBC, I imagine it should have occurred to you that you could have put out an initial statement while you were still trying to get to grips with the gravity of what had happened, prior to a full apology. Did you receive pressure from anybody on the board to delay such an apology?”

“The resignation of the director general is quite a big deal, is it not? When you tried to dissuade Tim Davie from his resignation, how did that conversation go?”

“I am not criticising you. I am just suggesting that it is interesting that somebody you have described as a friend had a role in your appointment. Do you not think that that is unusual?”

“Is there anything else you would like to add in answer to that question, Caroline?”

“Would you describe it as biased?”

“What do you think was missing?”

“Would you agree that Michael’s memo was an accurate reflection or response to that Grossman report?”

“Have you read Michael’s memo?”

“You don’t agree with him. Thank you. Caroline, I have largely not spoken with you yet—apologies. Have you seen David Grossman’s report? Have you read it?”

“I have just realised that you did not quite answer my earlier question. Do you agree that Donald Trump’s reputation has been tarnished by this documentary?”

“Who would know?”

“Mr Prescott, I happen to agree that this documentary aired a catalogue of interesting circumstances through such a large editorial process. My question is, prior to it airing, did that documentary deviate from the standard editorial or auditing processes in any way?”

“Do you agree with Donald Trump’s assertion that his reputation has been damaged by this documentary, considering that he was found to be a central figure in the insurrection, that he has been found by a civil court to be liable for sexual assault and that he has regularly boasted about sexual assault? Do you agree with…”

“What would such a companion documentary to the Donald Trump documentary look like?”

“Mr Prescott, you mentioned that the 6 January documentary was not of the editorial standard that you expected, but that you thought they might be just as hard on Kamala Harris. It has occurred to you, has it not, that Kamala Harris was not found by the January 6th Committee to have played an active role in the Capitol …”

“Mr Prescott, you spoke quite highly of Tim Davie. What was your relationship with Shumeet Banerji? Did you have a relationship with him?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“You speak of culture; it starts from the top, does it not?”

“Mr Prescott, is the BBC in a better place for the three resignations? Should public trust be greater or lower after them?”

“Any idea where that might be?”