Thread by @johnsweeneyroar

#Kamalgate Thread 1 Prompted by colleagues at BBC and others, I have written a letter to new chair of Commons Media Committee @julianknight15 raising concerns about integrity of BBC Editorial Director @bbckamal, his appointment at The BBC and his conduct before then and since. 1/

2 Questions include: What role did former Labour minister James Purnell play in Ahmed’s appointment? Ahmed was Purnell’s best man. What was Mr Ahmed’s role in Observer’s infamous front page warning of the dangers of the MMR vaccine when Mr Ahmed was news editor? 2/

3 When interviewing former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy for Panorama Ahmed failed to ask a series of tough questions that had been previously agreed with the producer? That he was, effectively, a patsy for Tesco? 3/

4 Can Ahmed explain the discrepancy between a BBC source saying the £12K from the hedge fund was fine because the event was booked b4 he was Ed Dir - 18 months ago - and his own statement that the booking was "some months ago?" /4

5 My letter concludes: "It beggars belief that Mr Ahmed and the managers he reports to believed that it was fine for him to take £12,000 from a hedge fund in direct contradiction to the BBC’s own guidelines... " /5

6 "...That he should have done so having announced the redundancy of 450 colleagues is a matter for him. But how Mr Ahmed was appointed to the BBC and how he has conducted himself is, I and others believe, a matter for your committee."

#Kamalgate thread ends