Speeches by Irons.

“Thanks so much for coming in today. Sir Robbie, in your view, what took the board so long to publish a response?”

“It seems that not much was said publicly in response to the memo in general. How did we get to this point where we were not really responding to the points that were raised publicly for quite a long time?”

“Yes. Publicly, we did not hear anything about it until the leak. Why was there such a delay in giving a robust response to it?”

“Yes, but I was wondering whether there were any conversations. Were your views canvassed in any way? Were you asked your opinion?”

“The Serota report, which you worked on, referred consistently to a “culture of defensiveness” at the BBC. Do you think that has changed since then?”

“Okay.”

“Caroline has just outlined that better training has been put in place for data analysis, because anyone can look at a spreadsheet and come up with an answer for anything. She has outlined the actions that were taken off the back of that clear failure. Where that has happened, is that not the BBC behaving in the way it …”

“I want to come back to the memo and the leaking. Sir Robbie, were you aware that it was going to leak?”

“Fair enough. How has the Serota review changed working practices and culture practically at the BBC? We keep coming back culture and transparency, but how has it actually changed anything?”

“How, then, did we reach the position we are in now, where you, Michael, felt compelled to write your memo? Is there an issue around transparency at the BBC? Is there an issue with just being transparent and honest when things go wrong?”

“Given that there was an investigation into the insurance piece, action was taken and the BBC acknowledged there was an issue, how much was that a systemic issue? Or was it just a cock-up? It is conspiracy versus cock-up. Is it just that a mistake was made, the BBC investigated and it was corrected? Given that action wa…”

“Can I clarify something? Dr Shah, you said that you were not involved in Sir Robbie coming on to the board, but, Sir Robbie, did you have any role in Dr Shah becoming chair? Sir Robbie Gibb indicated dissent.”

“Over the weekend, there were reports of a resignation from the board. Dr Shah, why did Mr Banerji resign from the board?”

“Thanks very much for coming in today. Caroline, you have mentioned the Serota review and talked about the depth of work involved. I want to pick up on a couple of points. The review found a culture of defensiveness at the BBC, especially around admitting mistakes, as the Chair mentioned. That was in 2021; have things i…”

“You mentioned Tim Davie’s robust and very quick response to Glastonbury. Do you have any idea why the robust and quick response did not come this time around?”

“Yes, but I was wondering whether there were any conversations. Were your views canvassed in any way? Were you asked your opinion?”

“Michael, do you have a view as to why there was a bit more of a delay when it came to a robust response?”

“There is a question of perception, isn’t there? How do you manage perception? You said it has been weaponised, but I suppose it is difficult for people to separate those things.”

“Yes. Publicly, we did not hear anything about it until the leak. Why was there such a delay in giving a robust response to it?”

“I want to come back to the memo and the leaking. Sir Robbie, were you aware that it was going to leak?”