This article in The Spectator https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/12/the-bbc-must-ask-itself-this-question-about-alan-yentob/ reminds us of the Kids Company 'charity' and the role played in it by the BBC's big cheese Alan Yentob. Do read the whole article to remind yourself of the whole sordid affair.
There's one section that, if true, is so damming:
'As I have previously reported, Yentob also secretly lobbied the Labour Government in 2002 over a large unpaid Kids Company tax bill which was later mysteriously waived at public expense. The charity deducted £689,000 in employment taxes from staff in 2002 – but did not pass on the money to the taxman. In an email sent on September 18, 2002 from the address of Yentob's personal assistant at the BBC, and later leaked to me, Yentob said that he had been told by the Treasury that the correct procedure would be to write a letter to minister Dawn Primarolo 'explaining the situation and the context and she would refer the matter back to the Inland Revenue'. Yentob then added cryptically: 'I intend to do that tomorrow morning with a little bit of help from my friends…' Yentob also said in the message: '[Treasury minister] Paul Boateng and I have managed to miss each other on the telephone but his office has been extremely co-operative and concerned and a phone call is being set up for tomorrow morning.' A few months later, £589,957 was written off using taxpayers' money, with an additional £100,000 debt met by an unidentified donor.'
Oddly the BBC have done their best to minimise coverage of the whole Kids Company scandal, especially the part played in it by their senior chap Alan Yentob. One might almost think that the BBC were trying to protect Botney.
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