Emily Maitlis' register of correspondence and potential conflicts of interest

The request was refused by British Broadcasting Corporation.

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

BBC Newsnight Presenter Emily Maitlis has said she has received text messages from Dominic Cummings.

How much correspondence has Emily Maitlis sent and received from Ministers, Special Advisers, back bench and front bench MPs, members of the Lords, lobbyists, EU officials, MEPs, and foreign lobbyists and politicians in the years since she started at Newsnight in 2006?

By that I mean meetings, gifts, telephone calls, text messages, Signal, WhatsApp, Email, post, facebook, twitter, instagram, and on other platforms.

Must BBC presenters, who are officially all impartial, declare such correspondence on a register so as to avoid the appearance of impropriety?

What is the name of this register?

Who is responsible for auditing the register?

Is there an anti-corruption unit at the BBC?

Yours faithfully,

Ranjan Kumaran

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Ranjan Kumaran

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as detailed in your email below. Your request was received on 24 July 2020.  We will deal with your request as promptly as possible, and at the latest within 20 working days. If you have any queries about your request, please contact us at the address below.

The reference number for your request is RFI20201070.

Kind regards,

Information Rights

BBC Freedom of Information
BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP

www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [BBC request email]

show quoted sections

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

2 Attachments

Dear Ranjan Kumaran

     

Please find attached the response to your request for information,
reference RFI20201070.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Rights

 

BBC Freedom of Information

BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre

201 Wood Lane

London W12 7TP

 

Website: [1]www.bbc.co.uk/foi

Email: [2]mailto:[BBC request email]

[3]Description: Description: \\BBCFS2025\UserData$\myrien01\Documents\My
Pictures\BBC.png

 

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.bbc.co.uk/foi
2. mailto:[BBC request email]

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of British Broadcasting Corporation's handling of my FOI request 'Emily Maitlis' register of correspondence and potential conflicts of interest'.

This reply is unsatisfactory. Corruption and conflicts of interest at the BBC are no laughing matter.

Disclosing whether there is a register of interests and an anti corruption unit at the BBC does not infringe European Convention on Human Rights.

Nor is it in the public interest for the BBC to be in the habit of covering up potential corruption.

Government officials should not be informally messaging BBC staff without full declarations.

If not the BBC presenters become too close to the Government and we become a banana republic.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

Ranjan Kumaran

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Ranjan Kumaran,

Thank you for your further correspondence.

As advised in our response, the BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not covered by the Act. If you disagree with our decision you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or +44 1625 545 700 (national rate) or see http://www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights

BBC Freedom of Information
BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP

Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: mailto:[BBC request email]

show quoted sections