Wales’ only member on the BBC Board fails to answer questions posed by Nation.Cymru

Martin Shipton

A right-wing Welsh businessman who was appointed to represent Wales on the Board of the BBC in the dying days of the last Tory government has not answered a series of questions put to him by Nation.Cymru.

A source contacted us to raise concerns about Michael Plaut’s role after both Reform UK and Andrew RT Davies, the former leader of the Welsh Conservatives, sought to claim without providing any evidence that BBC Wales was biased in favour of Plaid Cymru because its Director, Rhuanedd Rixchards, is a former Plaid chief executive.

The source told us: “There is a witch hunt going on against the BBC which makes no logical sense. It is ridiculous to claim it is biased in favour of the left, and now the likes of Farage, whose role with the right wing propaganda channel GB News provides him with a good reason to attack the BBC, is claiming that BBC Wales is biased because Rhuanedd Richards used to work for Plaid Cymru. Andrew RT Davies has jumped on the bandwagon.

“One of the BBC’s Board members, Sir Robbie Gibb, is a fervent supporter of Israel and it has been reported that he led the moves on the Board to get rid of Tim Davie,.”

Mr Davie, himself a former Conservative candidate, was forced out after a BBC current affaits programme edited sections of a speech delivered by Fonald Trump on the day his supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC in a bid to stop Joe Biden’s defeat of Trump legally ratified.

The source added: “It’s time people turned attention to the appointment of Michael Plaut as the BBC’s Board member for Wales.”

When Mr Plaut’s appointment to the Board was announced last year, it was criticised because he was the first non-Welsh speaker to hold the post for nearly 60 years.

It has also been alleged that his arrival amounted to a political appointment, with the Privy Council having approved it on Wednesday May 22 – the day before the general election was called.

Department of Culture Media and Sport

Mr Plaut was appointed for a four year term from June 1 2024 to May 31 2028. A statement issued by the UK Government’s Department of Culture Media and Sport said: “Michael is a Welsh business leader with extensive executive and non-executive leadership experience in the commercial and non-profit sectors.

“He has advised governments in both Westminster and Cardiff Bay on the Welsh economy and Welsh business. Michael has appeared regularly in the media commenting on business and economic issues pertaining to Wales. A global exporter, Michael is widely travelled and brings an international perspective.

“He is a former Chair of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Wales, he is Chair of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and a Governor of the University of South Wales. Michael was born and brought up in Wales. He started his career as an investment banker in London before returning to Wales to lead a Wales based company. He was awarded an OBE for services to business and entrepreneurship. By invitation of the Secretary of State for Wales, he chaired Building a More Prosperous Wales, a report for the UK Government on the Welsh economy. Michael lives and works in Wales.”

Outspoken

In the past Mr Plaut has made outspoken criticisms of the Welsh Government from a right wing perspective. In 2021 he told the Daily Telegraph: “Wales has to stop depending on England to ‘bail us out’.” He said that the decision not to continue with the project to build the M4 relief road in Newport showed that there was no desire within the Welsh Government to ensure that Wales could pay its own way.

“We’re not heading in the right direction if we want to build a prosperous future for the nation,” he said. “At the moment, Wales is becoming less and less attractive as a destination to either run a business or to relocate a business.

“For many years, Wales hasn’t stood on its own two feet, economically. So business has become irrelevant to the politicians in Wales.

“We can’t rely on money from England. If you look at the Welsh budget, Wales spends far more than we get. We can’t continue expecting England to bail us out.

“It’s just an attitude change to actually welcome business. To not see business as the enemy, but to see business as the answer to producing a prosperous future.”

There appeared to be a discrepancy between statements issued by the Welsh Government and the UK Government.

Advisor assessment panel

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are part of the advisor assessment panel. Applicants for the role of Wales board member must be able to demonstrate a strong knowledge of the culture, characteristics and affairs of the people of Wales; an understanding of views of audiences and public opinion in Wales; an understanding of media production in Wales in both the Welsh and English languages, as well as the ability to bring an external perspective to the BBC’s partnerships in Wales, including with the Welsh language broadcaster S4C.”

Yet the DCMS said: “Mr Plaut was found appointable for the role by an Advisory Assessment Panel, including an Independent Panel Member and representative from the Welsh Government. The role specification did not specify Welsh language skills.”

A source in the Welsh broadcasting industry said at the time: “This appointment is an insult to Wales. It is appalling that it was slipped through just before a general election was called. It seems clear from the criteria for the role that the person to be appointed should be a Welsh speaker. Much of the output of BBC Wales is in the Welsh language, for Radio Cymru and S4C. How can a non-Welsh speaker have an understanding of Welsh language production if they can’t speak Welsh?

“It also seems clear that the present [Tory] UK Government wanted to appoint someone sympathetic to their view of the world before a general election they are expected to lose.”

Questions

Nation.Cymru put a series of questions to Mr Plaut via the BBC press office:

“Does Mr Plaut agree with the view of Andrew RT Davies MS, the former leader of the Welsh Conservatives, that Rhuanedd Richards should have been disqualified from being the Director of BBC Wales because of her past role as Chief Executive of Plaid Cymru?

“Is he now, or has he ever been, a member of the Conservative Party?

“Does he accept that his appointment as Wales’ member of the BBC Board was politically motivated, given that it occurred immediately before a general election that the Conservatives were obviously going to lose?

“Does he believe that his inability to speak Welsh hampers his ability to perform his role as Wales’ member of the Board, given that a significant proportion of BBC Wales’ output is in the Welsh language?

“Does he believe the BBC’s coverage of Donald Trump’s behaviour on January 6 2021 was biased against him, given court findings that he was inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol?

“Does he accept that Israel’s war on Gaza amounts to a plausible genocide, in line with the view of the International Criminal Court?

“Does he think it appropriate that Sir Robbie Gibb, an outspoken Zionist and someone with close links to the Conservative Party, should be a member of the BBC board?

“Does he believe that Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant should be tried as war criminals?

“Does he believe that the BBC’s output has been biased against Israel?”

He did not respond to any of the questions.