Speeches by Irons.

“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?”

“Where do we go from here? What are the next steps for 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…”

“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?”

“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?”

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

“Sir Robbie, you are clearly a man of very strong political convictions and have held multiple posts both at the BBC and then over at No. 10 over the last couple of decades. How have you managed to keep these roles separate and manage your own bias, given that this is all about accusing the BBC of bias and accusing the …”

“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.”

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

“If he only has a few weeks to go, to leave now feels like a bit of a statement in itself—the timing of it. It has been reported that he has given governance issues at the top of the BBC as one of the reasons why he decided to leave. Was there any more detail?”

“Caroline, do you have anything to say about the defensiveness in the BBC?”

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

“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?”

“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?”

“Would we as a Committee be able to see that letter—privately, maybe?”

“There are reports today, I believe in The i, about a second board member who was on the verge of quitting. There have also been reports of the role of the EGSC expanding and the creation of a new deputy director general role. Dr Shah, is not that a bit of an admission that perhaps your leadership in this needs to be lo…”

“Would we as a Committee be able to see that letter—privately, maybe?”

“There are reports today, I believe in The i, about a second board member who was on the verge of quitting. There have also been reports of the role of the EGSC expanding and the creation of a new deputy director general role. Dr Shah, is not that a bit of an admission that perhaps your leadership in this needs to be lo…”

“But there are issues here, aren’t there? We are looking now at how this all works and it has taken quite some time to get there. That is why I asked the question.”

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