Cornelius Lysaght blames departure on ousted BBC boss James Purnell pushing ‘hapless youth policy’
Former BBC horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght has blamed his departure from the corporation on the executive James Purnell and his "hapless" pursuit of younger audiences.
The radio veteran has spoken for the first time about leaving the BBC.
In a blistering attack, Cornelius Lysaght, 55, also said few staff at the corporation would miss “talentless” Mr Purnell, the director of radio and music, who is now leaving.
Last week it was announced Mr Purnell, a former Labour minister, was moving from his £315,000 a year job to take up a university vice-chancellor role at the end of the month.
But Mr Lysaght, who was ousted from his Radio 5 job to make way for younger reporters in April, took to Twitter to address both the BBC and Mr Purnell, 50.
He wrote: “Doubt anyone at [the] BBC [is] even vaguely sorry [regarding] Jim Punrell’s exit; [he] pushed [a] hapless youth policy that saw experienced workers (ok, like me) jettisoned.”
He added: “Somebody just asked if I hated Jim Purnell. ‘Hate’ [is] too big a word for me, but his talentless contribution to [the] BBC is surely regretted by many.”
Mr Lysaght, who left after 30 years at the BBC as Mr Purnell tried to attract younger listeners, also posted online links to embarrassing stories connected to the executive’s political career.
One link Mr Lysaght captioned “in case anyone forgets” told how in 2007, Mr Purnell, a protege of Tony Blair, was at the centre of a fake photograph row. An image of the then culture secretary had been pasted into a picture of MPs outside a local hospital to launch a £112 rebuilding project.
The minister had been late for the photo shoot. But, his picture was added to the publicity shot at Tameside and Glossop Hospitals NHS trust before being sent to local newspapers.
While an NHS spokesman said the addition of Mr Purnell’s photo had been made with the minister’s permission, Mr Purnell’s spokesman denied the politician had given any consent.
Mr Lysaght also told how Mr Purnell had been involved in the 2009 attempted ‘coup’ against Gordon Brown as prime minister. The sports broadcaster added “should have known he’d be BBC failure”.
Mr Purnell was last night unavailable for comment.
