MPs have written to The Sun and the BBC raising questions about the outlets’ reporting of allegations against Huw Edwards.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of parliament’s culture committee, raised concerns with The Sun editor Victoria Newton about potential “inaccuracies, changing narratives and lack of engagement” with those involved in its stories about Mr Edwards.
She also raised allegations against GB News presenter Dan Wootton, a former The Sun employee, who has been accused of making payments to people for sexual material.
Dame Caroline also wrote to the BBC’s acting chair Dame Elan Closs Stephens asking for the broadcaster to clarify the process around its reviews into the allegations against Mr Edwards.
Mr Edwards, who broke the news of the Queen’s death last year, was named as the BBC presenter at the centre of a sex scandal that rocked the nation’s broadcaster.
He is “suffering from serious mental health issues” and was receiving treatment in hospital, where he would remain “for the foreseeable future”, his wife said in a statement.
The Sun initially reported claims from a mother that Mr Edwards had paid her son £35,000 for explicit images over three years, starting when the boy was just 17.
The young man’s lawyer then issued a statement describing the claims as “rubbish” and insisting “nothing inappropriate or unlawful had taken place”.
The publication of the initial allegations led to reports of other claims of inappropriate behaviour by Mr Edwards.
In her letter to Ms Newton, Dame Caroline said “given the concerns” about The Sun’s reporting, the culture committee would be “interested to understand what was done to verify this specific story”. The committee is also requesting clarity on any reviews the paper is conducting about its procedures and reporting and whether there are any “lessons to be learned”.
She added: “Since this story was reported, allegations have been made about a former employee of The Sun, Dan Wootton, who has been reported as being involved in payments for sexual material.
“We would be grateful if you could set out what investigations are taking place into this matter.”
Mr Wootton strenuously denies any wrongdoing.
Dan Wootton has claimed he is the victim of a “witch hunt” after he was accused of using fake online identities to trick men into sending him sexually explicit images in exchange for tens of thousands of pounds— (PA Media)
Dame Caroline said the committee did not want to “challenge individual stories or editorial decisions”, but it is important for the public to have confidence in the editorial standards of a newspaper.
And she told the BBC it is “critical for the public to retain confidence” in the broadcaster, calling for it to set out whether it intends to publish the outcome of its two reviews into the story on Mr Edwards.
The Sun responded to Dame Caroline’s letter, saying: “We stand by our reporting which is subject to law and regulatory oversight.”
The paper said it is subject to regulation by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) and consulted with in-house lawyers and an external KC before publishing the story.
“Questions raised about our reporting have come in particular from the BBC itself as well as a small group of anti-press campaigners who have sought to misrepresent our reporting or use selective extract,” Ms Newton wrote.
She added that The Sun has given “significant further evidence” of the allegations to the broadcaster and it is “now a matter for the BBC to rigorously investigate”.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We have received the letter and will respond to the committee in due course. The BBC is committed to carrying out all work connected to these matters with due diligence and due care – and we intend to complete this as swiftly as possible.”
Addressing allegations against Mr Wootton, Ms Newton said The Sun is investigating reports in the Guardian and Byline Times, but would not comment further.
Mr Wootton was asked to comment.
