Lisa Nandy orders BBC to open its books after 'serious failings' over Gaza documentary

The Culture Secretary yesterday ordered the BBC to carry out a ‘robust financial audit’ amid the continuing fallout over its controversial Gaza documentary. As part of its statement last week, the BBC said independent production company Hoyo Films had admitted it had paid the mother of the boy who narrated the programme ‘a limited sum of money’. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has ordered that the BBC carry out a 'robust financial audit' The culture secretary said she was left 'deeply disappointed' by a BBC statement last week on its Gaza documentary How To Survive A Warzone The narrator of BBC's Gaza documentary How To Survive a Warzone was the son of a deputy minister for agriculture who worked for the department whilst it was under Hamas control Her remarks come after the BBC’s own chairman Samir Shah told MPs on Tuesday that the controversy around the BBC’s Gaza documentary was a ‘dagger to the heart’ of the corporation’s claim to be ‘impartial’ and ‘trustworthy’. ‘This damages vital trust in an organisation which must retain the confidence of the public.’ She added: ‘While I appreciate that the BBC apologised for its failings, and the BBC board acknowledged that the mistakes were “significant and damaging”, it is vital that the BBC now takes action so that trust is restored and a serious error of this magnitude is not repeated.’ The culture secretary said she had ‘sought assurances’ from the BBC chairman that the fact-finding review will be ‘swift and rigorous’.