SARAH VINE on Huw Edwards: The worst-kept secret in the country is finally out

The country’s worst kept secret is finally out. In a shocking statement, the wife of Huw Edwards – the hitherto anonymous presenter at the center of allegations of sexual misconduct – has given his name.

Vicky Flind, a respected TV producer working on ITV’s Peston show, broke out late this afternoon, sending shockwaves through the BBC and beyond.

Edwards’ name was one of many floating around the internet in recent days. Almost everyone who worked in the media knew he was the person accused of soliciting indecent images from a vulnerable teenager in exchange for money – reportedly £35,000 – which the youngster then used to fund a drug addiction.

We couldn’t say or print it for legal reasons, but we knew it. Just like, of course, all those other BBC presenters whose names have been dragged through the mud on Twitter and social media.

That is why they were all – rightly so – so outraged by the BBC’s apparent inaction to either reveal the identities of the accused or even issue a statement clearing their names.

What Flind has done – identify her own husband and finally put an end to the malicious speculation – is therefore not only extremely courageous, it is also morally exemplary.

She’s made the decision to put many people out of their misery, while inevitably drawing attention to her own children – and those of her five children with Edwards. I can only imagine what she and she are going through.

It is important to emphasize that her statement in no way constitutes an admission of her husband’s guilt: she merely confirms that he is the accused. And Scotland Yard has dropped its investigation into the allegations, saying no crime was committed as far as police are concerned.

But even in the absence of crime, the fact remains that the idea of ​​Edwards – that self-proclaimed beacon of honest BBC journalism – supposedly asking for images of young people is alarmingly hypocritical and completely antithetical to anyone of his prestige. .

In addition to the original charges, he has subsequently been charged with breaking the rules of staying home to meet another young person, messaging a 17-year-old with love hearts and kisses, and sending threatening messages to a person in their early twenties whom he met through a dating app.

Of course, it may turn out that none of these things happened. But there is a stark contrast between these claims and the public image of the man who led the nation for television coverage of the late Queen’s funeral — not to mention the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Diamond Jubilee wedding. , the death of Prince Philip and the coronation of King Charles.

Huw Edwards has been our heartfelt companion to the BBC’s flagship 10 o’clock news for as long as many of us can remember.

No wonder, as Flind said in her statement, that Edwards “suffers from serious mental health issues” and is receiving “inpatient hospital care where he will remain for the foreseeable future.”

Unless he can prove to the public that these allegations are completely false, it’s hard to see how there could be any way back for him.

His wife spoke of his battle with depression over the years in her statement, perhaps as a way of mitigating the situation. And you always have sympathy for anyone battling serious mental illness. But the problem for Edwards – and by extension the BBC – is that he was, in large part, the mouthpiece of the Corporation.

We’re not talking about some fleeting Radio 1 DJ here: this is the man who succeeded David Dimbleby, the latest in a long line of revered BBC greats. It’s an unscrupulous prospect.

It’s also a terrible shame.

As it is, his life’s work and reputation are in jeopardy. And again, the public’s belief in the integrity of those who hold such elevated positions of power has been shaken to the core.