BBC launches probe into why Clive Myrie's 'moonlighting payments' are missing from its register

The BBC is probing how 'moonlighting payments' to Clive Myrie have not been declared on his register of external earnings.

Myrie, one of the Beeb's highest-profile presenters, last week topped a ranking of BBC presenters who had earned the most money through corporate work, pocketing at least £66,000 in the year to the end of June.

The 60-year-old, who already earns about £310,000 a year from hosting shows including BBC News at One, Six and Ten, made the extra income from 11 events, according to the figures.

Myrie also earns money from presenting BBC Two quiz show Mastermind, which is now included in his published pay figure because it falls under the BBC's commercial arm.

Since 2021, BBC presenters and senior leaders have been required to declare non-BBC events that they have received a fee for to 'promote the highest standards of impartiality'.

The Sunday Times has asked the BBC to account for corporate events Myrie has appeared at this year which have not been included in the register.

Staff are meant to file disclosures monthly, which are published by the BBC every three months in a move introduced by director-general Tim Davie.

Myrie declared six 'moonlighting' events for the first six months of the year, including making £10,000 for hosting the British Insurance Brokers' Association conference in Manchester.

The Sunday Times has uncovered four other corporate events that Myrie did not declare between January and June.

Myrie also earned between £5,000 and £10,000 for hosting an Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association lunch in March, but this was left out of disclosures due to a 'processing error'. It will be added in the next release.

It is not yet clear whether the other three events - with law firm Allen & Overy, Dutch investment bank ING and the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in Industry and Commerce - were voluntary or whether the money he made has simply not been registered.

The newsreader does sometimes make unpaid appearances, including a Founders Forum event in June.

A BBC spokesperson said: 'There appears to have been some administrative errors in relation to entries on the register. These will be reviewed and, where necessary, the register will be updated.'

Even without these events, Myrie has topped the BBC's external events register for earnings.

The news host, who also co-hosted the recent BBC1 election night coverage, took part in three events that paid 'over £10k', worth a minimum of £30,000. The real figure could be much higher.

Myrie also made another seven appearances that each earned him between £5,000 and £10,000.

The figures, revealed by industry publication Press Gazette, cover the year between the start of July 2023 and the end of June 2024.

On top of his extensive BBC duties, Myrie is often hosting and speaking at corporate events. On September 12, he hosted the Inspire Justice Awards at lunchtime - before delivering a speech at the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association dinner at the Grosvenor House hotel.

And last Tuesday, he appeared at a breakfast event with speakers' agency JLA and later hosted the Legal Business magazine awards, returning to Grosvenor House.

Next week, he is set to host the Highways Awards at the Park Plaza in Westminster before making an appearance at the Culloden Estate and Spa in Belfast for an Institute of Directors Northern Ireland dinner.

Just behind Myrie on the list of top earners from outside work, were Today presenters Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, who according to the report both earned £45,000 from this type of work in the 12-month period.

They were in joint first place for the highest number of £10,000 plus events that they took part in, both doing four each in the year.

Myrie is the top earner based on the minimum amount people received for their speaking. The highest pay bracket the BBC lists events for is for 'over £10k' meaning that an upper limit is not possible to work out.

The three top-paid gigs for Myrie were paid for by the Black Police Officers Association, the British Insurance Brokers Association, as well as Legal and General, the financial services company. He acted as an events host for two latter gigs.