A senior Cabinet minister has cautioned MPs against revealing the identity of the BBC presenter accused of paying a teenager for explicit images.
Some MPs are said to be considering whether to use the historic convention of parliamentary privilege to expose the star, who has been suspended by the corporation following allegations in the Sun that they paid a young person around £35,000 for explicit pictures beginning at the age of 17. Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride urged caution, emphasising that until all the facts are known, it would be unwise to disclose the presenter's name.
Stride stated: "We don't know those facts, and until we do, I think under those circumstances, it will be ill-advised to do that," during an interview with Times Radio. He further expressed his stance after being asked about the issue again, during a later interview with LBC Radio. He said: “I think everybody has to take their own decision on this one. I can only tell you what I would do, which is that I would not be naming anybody in the House of Commons.
