THE former Chairman of ITV says it is too early to say if heads will roll at the channel in the wake of the Phillip Schofield scandal.

THE former Chairman of ITV says it is too early to say if heads will roll at the channel in the wake of the Phillip Schofield scandal.
In an exclusive interview with GB News, Archie Norman, who is now the Chairman of Marks and Spencer, said: “I think in any crisis, corporate or government, the abiding lesson is to go to the end point at the beginning. Just assume the worst. I don’t know in this case whether that would have been possible. Philip and Holly were a brilliant team when I was there. This Morning was a great programme and during my time they were thoroughly professional
“Stuff does happen and on the whole the process and practices are very good at looking after people and making sure things are done properly because you have to be in a media type of business.
“But at the end of the day, workplace relationships do occur and you can’t just assume because they occur that the employer somehow is in some way at fault. So I don’t think we should read too much into it. It’s understandable it’s a big story because it’s such a human interest story. It’s such an extraordinary thing.
“I don’t know what’s going to come out of the inquiry. My guess is that we’ll find that ITV have handled it pretty well. I’d be disappointed otherwise. And Carolyn McCall, the chief executive, she’s all over it. She will be.”
Speaking to Philip Davies and Esther McVey, Mr Norman, a former Tory MP, said it was impossible to predict if people would lose their jobs.
“I’d be a fool to say yes or no because something could come out. But I don’t think we should conclude from this that ITV is a company with a series of bad practices.
“I’m sure there are things that could be improved. I think it’s a well run business that looks after its people well and this is something that could happen in a lot of companies.”
Mr Norman also addressed the future of the BBC licence fee.
He said: “The licence fee has actually been a very efficient tax for the last three decades or so. Around 90% of households pay their tax and it keeps it away from income tax. So there’s loads that’s been attractive about it. But in 10 years time it’s going to be very hard to levy because everybody’s watching on different devices around the household or around the workplace.
“You can’t even know who is watching and who isn’t. So the licence fee, for very practical reasons, is beginning to come to an end and that’s going to force the BBC to think not just about how it’s funded, but also therefore what it wants to pay for the scope of its activities. And I think that should be a healthy thing. It’s just so difficult for the BBC because every time they say that openly there is an outcry and it’s very very difficult to handle.”
Mr Norman also ruled himself out of becoming the next Chairman of the BBC.
He added: “I’ll be very surprised. I think the last thing they want now following the problems they had with the chairman who was close to the Prime Minister, is to appoint another chairman, not necessarily close to the Prime Minister, but as a former Conservative MP, that might be a controversy too far. To go in there now the Chairman needs a mandate. That’s what I would say it’s no good going to preside over it and preside over continuation because that’s not going to happen. So whoever takes that role needs to go in with a mandate for change.”