The BBC faces eye-watering legal expenses defending Martin Bashir over his questionable conduct of an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales back in 1995.
In the bombshell Panorama Special interview the Princess candidly revealed the full extent of her strained relationship with her then husband, Prince Charles, and other senior members of the royal family.
You can read a full transcript of the 55-minute long interview here.
At the start of October 2020 it came to light that Bashir might not have been entirely honest in his approaches to Diana when he was trying to fix up the interview.
In particular, it was said that Bashir preyed on the Princess's fragile state of mind, by making "wild allegations" that her phone had been bugged, that her bodyguard was conspiring against her and that Prince Charles was in a relationship with the couple's nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke.
By filling the Princess's mind full of fabricated nonsense, it is said that Bashir managed to persuade her to give her side of the story, despite her initial reluctance at the idea.
Former Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson, pictured above, has been appointed by the BBC to head up an independent investigation into Bashir's conduct in securing the interview.
According to insiders, Bashir, who is currently the BBC Relgious Affairs Correspondent, will be forced to quit the Corporation if Dyson levels any criticism in his direction.
The impoverished BBC - which can barely afford a pot to piss in, if you believe its regular cries of destitution - is now set to spend hundreds of thousands in TV licence fee payer's cash paying the legal expenses of those present and former employees called to give evidence. That's money effectively being poured down the drain as the direct result of yet more abysmal BBC journalism.
Campaigners and licence-fee payers have reacted furiously to the BBC's plan to foot the bill.
Rebecca Ryan of the Defund The BBC campaign group told the Express: "Why should licence fee payers foot the bill for defending Martin Bashir?
"The allegations against Bashir are very serious and the consequences of those actions devastating for Prince William and Harry and the whole country.
"Why should licence fee payers be forced to defend him? It’s outrageous."
Peter Jones, lead author of the TV Licensing Blog, added: "It appears that despite the BBC's plan to make massive savings through streamlining, redundancy and reductions in service, there is always enough public money in the pot to pursue meritless legal actions.
"TV licence payers will rightly be enraged at yet another example of BBC profligacy, particularly those over-75s who have recently been compelled to pay the £157.50 annual fee for the first time.
"There really never has been a better time for people to cancel their TV licence fee and adopt one of the many legal alternatives."
Speaking of cancelling the TV licence fee - you can find out the best way of doing that by reading our earlier article. If you find it useful, please share it with your friends on social media.
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