Senior BBC Bosses Claim £400,000-a-Year Expenses
Top Brass Splash Cash From LA to the Lowry
Luxury hotels, extravagant drinks parties and first class travel across the world – just some of the things top BBC bosses have been claiming in expenses bankrolled by licence fee payers. Guido can reveal that the exclusive circle at the top of the BBC‘s management has claimed £399,870 in expenses in the last year. Licence fee payers will be shocked at the huge number of spurious claims made by executives on six-figure salaries.
Last week the Beeb fired creative director Alan Yentob from their management board after he claimed nearly £8,000 in business class flights to Los Angeles and New York. £183,000-a-year Yentob also demanded that the licence fee payer fork out £17 for a BlackBerry charger. Some of the most eye-opening claims relate to luxury hotels booked by BBC top brass. Risk director Mike Ford, whose salary exceeds £150,000, stayed in posh Kensington hotels such as the Copthorne Tara over a hundred times in the last year. Sue Inglish might be responsible for cutting back on this year’s party conference coverage but that didn’t stop her from staying at Liverpool’s famous Liner hotel for last September’s Labour conference. £270,000-a-year BBC One controller Danny Cohen stayed in Manchester’s five-star Lowry hotel on numerous occasions, more usually frequented by Premier League footballers. Tens of thousands were spent by BBC managers on first class train travel from London to Manchester following the relocation to the north last year.
Some of the more ridiculous receipts include the deliciously ironic Vision boss Tessa Finch’s £20 eye test and news manager Phil Fearnley’s claim for a short £7 taxi ride because it was “too late at night to walk”. Liam Keelan, Zarin Patel and Roger Wright asked for almost £1,000 between them to pay for expensive leaving parties. New director general George Entwistle claimed £457 for a ticket to Labour wonk-shop IPPR’s Oxford media convention.
Remember, this is all paid for by a flat tax licence fee of which the public has no choice but to pay. This comes out of your pocket…
What else would you expect from ZaNuLieBor’s broadcast arm?
Really?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3441181.stm
So they had disagreements on certain things – is that the best you can do?
At least the BBC wouldn’t habour a known nonce amongst their very own.
W.W.
And they spunked God knows how much on Jimmy Savile’s sex-pestery.
Abolish the licence fee.
I’m one of those rare people who don’t object to the licence fee – but I do object to this high-level troughing. Heads, deputy heads, assistant heads etc etc must roll.
“I’m one of those rare people who don’t object to the licence fee…”
Very rare, akin to rocking horse shit…
I said I don’t object to it. I just don’t pay it.
Funnily enough, I don’t object either! Their bias is too obvious to be taken as a serious threat, absurd and funny as it often is.
But the troughing HAS to stop – the money is there to produce excellent programs, not to allow these senior managers to act as if they are highly successful wealth creators, who deserve to spend the fruits f their labours.
If you aarn it – spend it. But if it’s gifted by the people, the tax payers – we want a receipt and the right to refuse payment!!!
EARN it……. sorry, got carried away. (First class, nice hotel, SUPER couple of bottles of wine and some fine Columbian, nudge nudge, wink, wink! – put it on ex’s, old boy!)
So, don’t pay the ‘licence’ fee the only licence it offers is to rob us.
Who is surprised? My kid used to work at the BBC, money on frivolities was splashed around like no one’s business.
Yes, the only place where rent boys and coke are itemised in expenses as ‘fruit & flowers’ !
They even stiff the public for the cost of receiving their approved editorial lines: “New director general George Entwistle claimed £457 for a ticket to Labour wonk-shop IPPR’s Oxford media convention”
And that is on top of the free publicity which Al JaBeeBa gives to the loathsome Leftist IPPR’s propaganda reports on programmes like Toady!
We receive nearly £ FOUR BILLION from Government every year. This money is plucked from the Liebour Money Trees left for the Nation by Brown & Balls in 10, Downing Street’s garden. What’s the problem ????
BBC the second sin
Wake me up when someone actually does anything about this
Indeed, all stop paying the licence to rob fee
You have to laugh at creative director.
When it comes to our cash, they are all creative.
Hippo-crites, the whole fucking lot of them…
The Guardian will think of these expenses claims as modest.
But then, Guardian staff would like to move on to the beeb, not least for its final salary pension scheme.
‘The BBC Pension Scheme is one of the biggest occupational pension schemes in the UK, providing benefits for over 60,000 people, it is closed to new joiners.’
From the BBC Pensions website.
And any one any idea how big their tribunal / pay off to avoid tribunal costs are – significant I know for sure.
And then there are the millions of pounds squandered on unnecessary equipment every year just so that budgets can be used up. All that pesky extra money lying around, it has to be got rid of somehow.
Hooded Yardies on the White City Estate are doing a roaring trade in computers and other equpment left behind in semi-abandoned buildings around the self-styled ‘BBC Village.’ I expect it’s part of a BBC reach-out exercise to de commoon-itee, like the table-tennis equipment left out at night in summer to keep local gangstas amused. Sadly, it got stolen or trashed and all had to be replaced. Again. And again.
Why not, it is not the beebs money is it we pay
Spend a fortune on HD camera’s in Glasgow and not a penny on the infrastructure to use them … great management eh. It’s only our money after all.
And I bet that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Said it before , say it again – we don’t need a state broadcaster we’re not northkorea , at least not yet. Sell the beeb off in bits to highest bidders around the world and use the money to pay off our deficit. And save every household in UK £147pa.
And I bet that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Said it before , say it again – we don’t need a state broadcaster we’re not
no rth ko rea , at least not yet. Sell the beeb off in bits to highest bidders around the world and use the money to pay off our deficit. And save every household in UK £147pa.
£147? Is that what it costs now?
“Remember, this is all paid for by a flat tax license fee of which the public has no choice but to pay. This comes out of your pocket…“
Yes we do, and no it doesn’t.
Don’t be a sheep – just don’t f*cking pay it.
The Guardian was originally the Manchester Guardian. The BBC has now found its true home in Salford.
Fuck you you fucking fucks.
Fucking right you fucking are. Fuckers trying to fuck the fucking BBC.
Ah, but… these are not just expenses scandals, these are BBC UNIQUE expenses scandals.
There’s a difference… apparently. One that inevitably ‘gets it about right’.
Something to do with being a state-compelled-funding media monopoly that presumes it only gets to ask questions and hold everyone else to account, possibly?
How’s about that then, boys & girls?
ah, the beeb looks after its own kiddy fiddlers
Guido behind the curve again.
About two weeks ago I posted a comment about Mark Thompson’s leaving bash. How much did that cost the license fee payer?
Come on Guido.
Alan Yentob £183,000 a year? Jesus, I knew it was bad but not that bad.
Read his Wiki entry, then weep at this bit:
In July 2009 he was revealed to have accumulated a pension worth £6.3m, giving an annual retirement income of £216,667 for the rest of his life. This is one of the biggest pensions in the public sector.
And they despise the Bankers……!
Quite. The word ‘hypocrisy’ doesn’t exist in the Socialist vocabulary. Troughing, avaricious pigs.
The “£20 eye test” is a legal requirement for anyone working on a VDU, though normally you get a crappy voucher for your companies favorite/cheapest chain.
Copthorne Tara luxurious? You haven’t stayed there have you? I’d say he was slumming it!
Come on Guido, the Copthorne Tar a “luxury” hotel thats like calling Lidl a “luxury” supermarket.
If you’ve got it flaunt it. If you’ve got it, but it doesn’t belong to you and you can get away with it, flaunt it.
Entwistle and IPPR!
Is this why IPPR are doing Liebor’s policy in Manchester this week and the odious Quinn is all over Balls Up, Chukka Brick and the other incompetent criminals?
First off, lets bring back the stocks, put all the fidlers in and let the licence payers let rip, last, sack the bloody lot after removing all pensions and perks.
Thank you Guido for showing up this contemptible institution for what it is. One great big trough inhabited by greedy pigs.
I don’t see what is wrong with flying business class when on business. As for the company paying for the charger for a company phone? Is that supposed to be a scandal!!?
I have little time for these hypocritical socialist swines, but £8k on business class flights (eg one full price transatlantic return) isn’t exactly egregious.
Is there nothing that can be done to stop this gravy train in its tracks? Its so unfair when so many struggle to pay the licence fee. It’s not as though we have any choice about it. Shame it can’t be contested somehow in the Euro courts
Tis the usual hypocrisy demonstrated by the left wing of politics as they have zero honour, dignity or principles. The BBC could renamed to Banality, Bribery and Corruption as that would explain what they really all about. It is a sad reflection on human behaviour when hypocrisy and greed reigns supreme and ethics takes a holiday.
But what else does one expect from these hypocrites, it is their aim in life to get as much cash as they can. How they go about achieving the task is obviously irrelevant.
Make them face an ATOS assessment for the money they have spent then they will know what hell is about. B**tards. But they, like other big earners who bollock up the system they will walk away with huge payoff unlike the people with 8 months to live who ATOS and DWP say are fit for work, any work even as they are dying.