‘BAE boss must resign from BBC Trust’
The appointment of chairman of Europe’s largest arms firm BAE as BBC’s vice chairman has sparked criticisms among social groups in UK warning that BBC must not be used as a vehicle to legitimize the arms trade.
Campaign Against the Arm Trade (CAAT) has launched a petition calling for Roger Carr’s resignation. It has also urged the BBC to sever its ties with Carr, and the arms trade itself.
CAAT suggests the arms dealer’s appointment could pave the way for the broadcaster to whitewash the arms trade’s destructive impact across the globe.
Carr’s new role at the BBC Trust is prestigious, and places the BAE Systems chairman right at the center of the organization.
The BBC Trust faced further scrutiny and criticism last month when its chair, Rona Fairhead, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as a non-executive director of HSBC’s disgraced Swiss subsidiary.
Appointments to the trust are made on the recommendation of UK government ministers. The board of trustees consists of 12 people, including a chairman, a vice chairman and members representing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
BAE Systems has sold weapons to despotic regimes and human rights abusers in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Israel. The firm’s reputation has been further damaged by bribery allegations that have sparked multiple anti-fraud investigations in Britain and America.
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