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Richard Sharpe has given financial advice to Boris Johnson after it was revealed he was responsible for securing an £800,000 loan before he was appointed chairman of the BBC. Denied.
Mr. Sharp told lawmakers he knew nothing about Mr. Johnson’s financial situation and introduced Mr. Johnson’s distant cousin Sam Bryce to Chief Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, saying that Mr. Johnson was 80 years old. He said it was just to help secure a loan of £10,000.
Sharpe’s appointment to the BBC is set to come under scrutiny amid growing doubts about his role in introducing Johnson to Canadian businessman Bryce to secure a loan facility.
After nearly two hours of intense questioning by the Culture, Media and Sports Commission on the matter, the 66-year-old revealed he was given the chance to meet Mr Johnson at number 10 before applying for the BBC’s chairmanship. I made it It will not be offered to other applicants.
The committee failed to clarify at its pre-appointment hearing that Bryce had played a role in introducing Johnson to the loan, and asked Mr. Sharp for further questions.
However, contrary to a Sunday Times report, he denied giving financial advice to the then-Prime Minister. The newspaper said Mr Case formally warned Mr Johnson to stop seeking financial advice from Mr Sharp days before he was appointed chairman of the BBC. .
Mr Sharp said his relationship with Mr Johnson was “largely professional” and denied providing financial advice to Mr Johnson.
“I have never and never provided personal financial advice to the ex-Prime Minister. I know nothing about his (financial) affairs. .
“All I knew was media reports that he was having financial troubles when he introduced his friend Bryce to Case,” he added.
Mr Sharp claimed in a Cabinet Office memo that he was “wrongly worded”, and Mr Case told Mr Johnson that it was a personal financial matter, considering Mr Sharp would soon be announced as the new chairman of the BBC. I warned you not to ask for advice about
Instead, the former banker suggested that Bryce and Case acted as a sort of “introduction agency” to discuss potential financing arrangements for Johnson.
He admitted that Bryce should have told Case to “find his own way” because he had “underestimated” what the situation looked like in hindsight.
However, he showed no remorse for withholding the matter from the committee.He added that he regretted the “situation” that had arisen since it appeared in the media.
Labor MP Kevin Brennan has accused the BBC chair of a “grave error of judgment” in failing to inform a parliamentary committee of his involvement before he was appointed.
He did not answer whether he would resign if a public watchdog inquiry criticized him for withholding information about his financial involvement when applying for the BBC chairmanship. .
When questioned, he told parliamentarians:
