Calls for governor to quit BBC because of defence links

by Staff,, Brand Republic 04-Oct-04, 09:00

LONDON - A BBC governor, Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, who Greg Dyke blames for his departure, has been called upon to resign over her links with the defence firm Qinetiq, which supplies US forces in Iraq.

According to a report in The Observer, Neville-Jones holds £50,000 in shares in the firm and last year earned £133,000 from the company as chairman.

She is also closely linked to the intelligence establishment and is a former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, where she advised the Prime Minister on foreign, defence and intelligence issues.

Dame Neville-Jones was also highly critical of the BBC during the Dr David Kelly affair. Former BBC director-general Dyke has since blamed her for his departure from the corporation, saying she led the board of governors against him.

Now backbench MPs, including former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle, have said that Neville-Jones' connections with Qinetiq give her a conflict of interest and that she must go.

Llew Smith, a Labour MP, told the paper: "It is completely inappropriate that someone so senior in the BBC should be leading a firm making huge profits from the misery caused by the invasion of Iraq."

Neville-Jones has never hidden her connection with Qinetiq.

A BBC spokeman said: "The board of govenors is responsible for ensuring that the BBC acts only in the public interest and is impartial in its news coverage. The BBC operates a well-established conflict of interest process. It is a matter of public record that Pauline Neville Jones is chairman of Qinetiq."

Qinetiq is a private company that specialises in security. It creates technology, as well as equipment used in the US Humvees and Black Hawk helicopters, which are used by the US Army, and even provides military training.

The company was formed out of the Ministry of Defence's research arm, and the MoD still owns a 51% stake in the company.

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