In the same month that Mr. Webb made his request, Mr. Setter contacted Mr. Bashir and asked for a brief statement on the matter after receiving a request to release an archived interview that referred to a “fabricated article.”
In a response published following a separate FoI request by Mr Webb, Mr Bashir wrote: I am sorry to hear that this so-called “fabrication” story has come up again. It didn’t help the interview, but professional jealousy, especially within the company, made it possible to tip your hat to the alleged wrongdoing.
“It was also clear that there was some frustration at the time that a second-generation immigrant with non-white, working-class roots had to have the courage to enter the palace and give an interview.
“It would have been easier if one of the dynastic families (Dimbleby et al.) had done it!”
In October 2020, just 48 hours before a Channel 4 documentary about Mr Webb’s interview with Princess Diana was broadcast, the BBC released a 1996 internal report alleging that Mr Bashir had been provided with raw data from fake bank statements. I sent the letter to Mr. Webb. By Earl Spencer, the princess’s younger brother.
But an eight-page document later emerged showing the BBC knew in 1996 that Mr Bashir was an exposed liar, but did not share it with him. Mr Webb believes this shows that in 2020 senior executives at the BBC were still covering up what happened in 1995.
“rage”
Lord Spencer said in 2020 that he was “outraged” by false suggestions that he had shown Mr Bashir the original bank statements on which the forgeries were based. The truth, he said, was that Mr. Bashir had shown the forgeries while trying to secure a meeting with the princess.
Later that year, former Supreme Court judge Lord Dyson was asked to investigate the case, and in 2021, a report found that Mr Bashir had engaged in “deceptive conduct” by forging bank statements and showing them to Lord Spencer. announced. , and that the BBC concealed what it knew about Mr Bashir’s actions in the 1990s.
Mr Webb has sought to get to the bottom of what he calls a “cover-up of cover-ups” in 2020, and on Tuesday the BBC, in response to a FoI request originally lodged, handed Mr Webb more than 10,000 pages of documents. was published. 2021.
But a number of documents have been completely redacted, meaning Mr Webb will need to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner if he is likely to see the most sensitive documents.
They include an email sent by Mr Setter to BBC lawyer Peter de Valle on November 11, 2020 with the subject line: “RE: Diana Panorama: amended minutes?” But it is reserved under “legal privilege.”
Another email sent from BBC Director General Tim Davie to BBC Secretary and Chief of Staff Phil Harrold on 18 November 2020 has also been redacted in full. It was on that day that Lord Dyson was appointed chairman of the inquiry into the Panorama incident.
The BBC has so far spent more than £150,000 on external legal advice alone to avoid handing over documents.