Update: Downing Street has now responded, saying that Entwistle’s payoff is “hard to justify” but is a matter for his “conscience”. As I said below, it is hard to see Entwistle prevailing at a time when the BBC’s reputation has already been so damaged.
If the BBC wants to restore public confidence, it’s hard to think of a worse move than handing George Entwistle, who resigned as director general after just 53 days in the job, a payoff of £450,000, the equivalent of a year’s salary and double the contractually required amount. In her capacity as shadow media secretary, Harriet Harman has criticised the payout as “a reward for failure” and has urged Entwistle to “decline to accept any more than is required under his contract”.
The government, wary of being seen to compromise the BBC’s independence, has not commented, but Conservative MP John Whittingdale, who chairs the commons media committee, said that “people would be very surprised that somebody who was in the job for such a short period of time and then had to leave in these circumstances should be walking away with £450,000 of licence fee-payers’ money.” He also rejected the BBC’s argument that the payout was justified since Entwistle would “continue to help on BBC business, most specifically the two ongoing inquiries.” He said: “I wouldn’t have thought that just because you have to help any inquiry into the Savile allegations you necessarily need to be paid such a large amount of money.”
Some have defended the payout on the grounds that Entwistle did not bear primary responsibility for the scandal (and so deserves our sympathy) and that the frequency with which director generals are forced to resign – half of those appointed since 1982 have had to resign over BBC output – means the corporation must offer generous terms to its managers. But whether or not the payout is justified in principle, as a tactical move it’s disastrous, a gift to the BBC’s many enemies. Having previously forced RBS chief executive Stephen Hester to renounce his bonus, the politicians will fancy their chances of success. In the current climate, it is hard to see Entwistle prevailing.
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