BBC row over cash for honours bonus

[Teddy Bear]

Here's a time when the BBC are actually caught red-handed. Their response is to go "shock, horror, and 'reprimand' one of their staff, and reaffirm their 'commitment' to fair and impartial reporting

Question is, why would one of their staff think it was alright to have done it in the first place. Obviously they weren't counting on being caught.

BBC row over cash for honours bonus
By Neil Tweedie
Last Updated: 1:56am GMT 22/11/2006

The Labour Party was embroiled in a fresh row with the BBC yesterday following an admission by the corporation that it offered an incentive payment to journalists investigating the "cash for peerages" affair.

It was forced into a humiliating climb-down after confirming that a manager in the BBC political unit at Millbank had circulated an e-mail promising £100 to the first journalist to confirm that Tony Blair was to be questioned by police.

The disclosure prompted a fierce letter of complaint from Peter Watt, the Labour general secretary, to Mark Thompson, the BBC director general.

The row is further evidence of mounting tension in Downing Street over the Scotland Yard inquiry into the alleged sale of peerages to wealthy businessmen in return for large donations disguised as non-declarable loans.

The Blair government has a long history of conflict with the BBC, most notably over its reporting of the David Kelly affair before the invasion of Iraq.

Yesterday, the BBC described as "wholly inappropriate" an e-mail sent to Millbank staff by the manager, named by Labour as Gary Smith. A spokesman said the manager had been guilty of an "error of judgement" and insisted that its journalists would continue to cover the "cash for peerages" affair in a fair and balanced way.

However, Mr Watt accused the BBC of violating its own guidelines.

He wrote: "Such a bonus scheme cannot do anything other than distort the news judgement of your journalists. I also question how such practices are within the BBC's own guidelines of integrity, independence and fairness."

Mr Watt demanded that the BBC disclose the full text of the email, any payments made to its journalists and the origin of the incentive