[Media-watch] Dame Neville-Jones quits BBC after Iraq links exposed
- Media Bulletin/Brand Republic - 19/10/2004
Julie-ann Davies
jadavies2004 at yahoo.co.uk
Tue Oct 19 22:46:04 BST 2004
http://www.brandrepublic.com/mediabulletin/news_story.cfm?articleID=225246&Origin=MB19102004
Dame Neville-Jones quits BBC after Iraq links exposed
Gordon MacMillan, Brand Republic 13:30 19-10-2004
LONDON - Dame Pauline Neville-Jones has quit the BBC board of governors a
year early, after her links with defence firms supplying US forces in Iraq
were exposed earlier this month.
Neville-Jones was called upon to stand down earlier this month after it was
revealed she held shares in defence firm Qinetiq. She was reported to hold
£50,000 in shares in the firm and last year earned £133,000 from the company
as chairman.
Greg Dyke blamed Neville-Jones for helping to force him out as
director-general following the Hutton Report.
However, a spokeswoman for the BBC has denied that the departure of
Neville-Jones is linked to her involvement with Qinetiq.
Neville-Jones had been BBC's international governor since January 1998. Her
departure will allow a new governor to be appointed in advance of the final
phase of charter renewal decisions later next year.
As well as being linked to the former government-owned defence firm,
Neville-Jones also had links to the intelligence community and was a former
head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, a job until recently held by Sir
John Scarlett, the new head of MI6.
While chairing the Joint Intelligence Committee, she advised the Prime
Minister on foreign, defence and intelligence issues.
During the Dr David Kelly affair and ensuing Hutton Report she was highly
critical of the BBC and for that earned the wrath of former BBC
director-general Dyke. He accused her of leading the board of governors
against him.
In a statement, Neville-Jones said that as the BBC approaches the final
phase of decisions about its future, it was important for those involved to
be established in post and ready to take responsibility for implementation
of the outcome.
"I am due to retire from the board at what will be a crucial period of
discussions and decisions about the BBC's future.
"I therefore believe the BBC would be better served to have a new
international governor in place well in advance of December 2005 to provide
continuity throughout the final phase of the charter renewal process."
BBC chairman Michael Grade said that Neville-Jones had been an outstanding
champion of BBC World Service and BBC World and an effective chairman of the
audit committee.
"We will miss Pauline's unwavering belief in the BBC," he said.
The calls for her to stand down came from backbench Labour MPs, including
former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle and Llew Smith.
Smith said: "It is completely inappropriate that someone so senior in the
BBC should be leading a firm making huge profits from the misery caused by
the invasion of Iraq."
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