Nadine Dorries may have exploited parliamentary privilege to “traduce the reputation of Channel 4”, a “concerned” committee of MPs has said.
The former culture secretary told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee in May that a Channel 4 reality show she appeared on in 2010 used paid actors instead of ordinary members of the public.
MPs on the committee said that these claims are “groundless” and that they “do not find either the original claims, or the clarifications to be credible and have seen no corroboration of her claims”.
They added: “We are concerned Ms Dorries appears to have taken an opportunity, under the protection of privilege, to traduce the reputation of Channel 4”.
In the four-part documentary series Tower Blocks of Commons, MPs spent time living in deprived housing estates across Britain.
An investigation by the production company Love Productions and an internal review by Channel 4 found no evidence to support Ms Dorries’ allegations that some estate residents featured on the programme were actors.
However, she did not correct the record despite the multiple opportunities to do so, the committee said.
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Committee chairman Julian Knight said: “We recognise that those giving evidence will occasionally make mistakes, but it is vitally important for the integrity of parliamentary scrutiny that they are then corrected.
“We are disappointed that despite being provided with several opportunities to reconsider her position, the former Secretary of State failed to countenance that her recollections may have been flawed.”
In April, as a cabinet minister, Ms Dorries openly supported a proposal to privatise Channel 4, saying that it would allow it to diversity its revenue streams.
The committee said that if Ms Dorries was still secretary of state, driving a policy of selling Channel 4, they might have referred her to the privileges committee, which is currently investigating allegations that Boris Johnson misled the Commons over Partygate.
However, the referral will not be made since she is no longer in a position in which she can decide the future of the channel and her claims have not inhibited the committee’s work.
From the committee’s report, people “will be able to draw their own conclusions about the contrast between her claims and subsequent correspondence with the committee, and Channel 4’s thorough investigation”, added Mr Knight.
