Disgraced journalist Martin Bashir is still being paid by the BBC despite last week’s damning report into the Princess Diana interview scandal, the corporation’s director-general revealed today.
Tim Davie said Bashir remains on the BBC payroll but is working out a three-month notice after handing in his resignation.
The disclosure comes after a report by Lord Dyson found that Bashir used “deceitful conduct” to obtain the 1995 interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, which was then covered up by a “woefully ineffective” internal investigation. Mr Davie told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “He’s working out a short notice period because he resigned.”
Asked why he was not sacked, Mr Davie added: “Martin Bashir offered his resignation prior to us seeing the Dyson report. There were three reasons why I accepted the resignation. The first was there were very significant medical care issues, which, in terms of Martin Bashir as a staff member, regardless of all the situation around it, is a factor.
“The second is it allowed a clean break with no pay-off, which I thought was in the licence fee-payers’ interest to make sure that there was a clean process. The third was there was no restraint in us getting to the truth. This was not an honourable discharge.”
He said the three-month notice period was “nearly out”.
Mr Davie said he would like to meet graphic designer Matt Wiessler, who tried to expose Mr Bashir’s methods.