Sir Alan Parker has denied wasting funds on lawyers to send media organisations ‘highly aggressive’ letters.
The former head of ‘Save the Children’ has denied accusations made by Conservative Committee member Pauline Latham that the charity paid out over £100,000 on lawyers to ‘shut down’ stories made by various media outlets.
Parker appeared before the House of Commons International Development Committee earlier this week to answer numerous questions about the response of the organisation to staff misconduct and cover-up allegations.
Nigel Evans of the committee highlighted that Harbottle & Lewis, a London based firm, had been identified as being retained by the charity. Referencing an allegation from the Daily Mail, he stated that the firm, on behalf of Save the Children, had been hired to send a number of letters to media outlets to put them off covering scandals.
In response, Parker queried the extent of the ‘aggression’ mentioned, stating that at the time, the lawyers hired were simply ‘trying to make the facts clear’. He went on to highlight the significant impact that misleading media comments can have on both the organisation and the work it carries out. He stated: ‘If really misleading comments are made in the media and repeatedly so, that can undermine a lot of the good work people in Save the Children around the world are doing and undermine the support. There were a lot of comments around cover-ups and about statements that simply didn’t meet the facts at the time.’
Whilst Parker denied that the lawyers had been hired as a way to ‘shut down’ coverage, he stated that action had been taken as a way to ensure the protection of the charity.
Save the Children are set to write to the committee to provide detail on the costs spent on legal advisers.
