Sharp under pressure to quit BBC after report finds ‘significant errors’ over Johnson loan
BBC chairman Richard Sharp has been told that his position is “increasingly untenable” today after a report found that “significant errors of judgement” were made in helping to arrange an £800,000 loan guarantee for Boris Johnson while Sharp was applying for the top job at the BBC.
Ex-JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs banker Sharp, who is a friend and former advisor to the then-prime minister, facilitated an introduction for Johnson’s distant cousin, businessman Sam Blyth, who reportedly suggested acting as a loan guarantor to his relative in 2020.
A report by a cross-party panel of MPs said today that Sharp failed to give them the “full facts” in order to judge his “suitability as a candidate” for the public role, in a report branded “damning” by Labour.
Sharp’s spokesman told the BBC did not arrange the introduction, as first reported by the Sunday Times, and was not involved in agreeing the loan.
Appearing in front of MPs at the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee last week, Sharp denied giving Johnson advice on his finances.
But the DCMS committee report, published today, has heavily condemned Sharp’s failure to mention his involvement in events around the loan while up for the job.
Sharp “failed to apply the same standards of openness and candour” as when he raised the matter of facilitating the introduction with cabinet secretary Simon Case, the MPs said.
“There can be no question that Sharp’s decision not to divulge his involvement in the loan guarantee denied this committee the opportunity to fulfil its scrutiny role,” they added.
“Only Johnson was fully aware of Sharp’s potential conflict at the time the appointment was made.”
The committee originally backed him as the government’s top BBC chairman candidate in early 2021, but the choice is ultimately made by the PM while being advised by the culture secretary and a panel.
Sharp accepted, the report said, that his failure to disclose had embarrassed the BBC, but had “potentially been misconstrued”.
His decision to become involved and lack of disclosure were “significant errors of judgement” that “undermine confidence” and could “deter qualified individuals” from applying for posts, the report said.
Government ministers were criticised as “highly unsatisfactory” by MPs for using their initial report on Sharp as a “defence of the process” despite not having all the facts at the time.
Sharp should “consider the impact his omissions will have on trust in him, the BBC and the public appointments process”, MPs added.
Sharp’s spokesman told the BBC he “appreciates” there was information the committee felt it should have been made aware of and that he “regrets and apologises” for this, but believed he had “acted in good faith”.
Lucy Powell, shadow culture secretary, said the report was “damning” and made Sharp’s position “increasingly untenable”.
She said: “It because it throws into serious doubt the impartiality and independence that is so fundamental to trust in the BBC. Conservative cronyism is dragging down the BBC when we should be building it up as a cornerstone of our creative economy.”
The Lib Dems called for the ministerial ethics advisor to open an investigation, describing Rishi Sunak as “powerless to stop… the deafening drumbeat of sleaze”.
Reviews into Sharp’s hiring and any potential conflicts of interest are also being carried out by the public appointments watchdog and the BBC’s own internal review.
Andrew Mitchell, international development minister, told the BBC it was necessary to wait for reports to be finished, adding: “We need to be fair to all parties, including Richard Sharp.”
No10 and the BBC have been approached for comment.