The cover-up is always worse than the ‘crime’ as BP boss Bernard Looney found out

THE sudden resignation of BP chief executive Bernard Looney, one of Britain’s most successful businessmen, raises the question: Should a senior executive lose his job due to his private relationships?

Bernard quit after he accepted he was not “fully transparent” with the board about his past work relationships.

It appears that Bernard was a bit of a ladies’ man.

His personal life first hit the headlines a couple of years ago when his ex-wife, Jacqueline Hurst, a life coach who was married to him between 2017 and 2019, wrote a self-published book in which she referred to her marriage ending without warning via a WhatsApp message.

She also said that her husband had only married her because he wanted to get to the next level of seniority in the company he worked for and had to be seen to be married.

If true, what charming behaviour that is, all round.

But the mistake that has led him to resign is not so much his weakness for female company — which really is not a crime, is it?

It is more the fact that he accepted he was not “fully transparent” to the board about his past work relationships.

After all, lots of relationships, mine included, begin in the workplace.

When my husband Paul and I got together, yes, I was his boss.

But I was single, he was single, we were a similar age and we both knew it was not a fling.

We told our bosses, got married and remain married 30 years later. I believe that transparency is vital.

Not being “fully transparent” is one thing that it is hard for any CEO — or employee, come to that — to justify.

Employees and employers want leaders to have integrity and strong values.

They want their leaders to be trustworthy and ethical, with the ability to demonstrate the beliefs of the company and reflect their values.

A leader who isn’t fully transparent to the board is simply not doing that.

Bernard is not the first — and won’t be the last — high flyer to go because of a relationship.

The former boss of McDonald’s, Steve Easterbrook, was fired in 2019 after directors discovered he had been having a consensual relationship with an employee.

In many cases, it is the cover-up that is so much worse than the initial misdemeanour or crime.

For Bernard, having a number of romantic relationships is not in itself a sackable offence, and I am sure some people will see his departure as a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

In the wake of the #MeToo campaign, companies have to be really careful to take action against senior employees who enter into relationships with junior colleagues due to concerns about the power imbalance.

And, while the allegations against Bernard are not fully clear, it would be easy to surmise that he has somehow broken the BP code of conduct, which sets out how conflicts of interest may arise if an employee has an “intimate relationship with someone whose pay, advancement or management you can influence”.

Not that I think there should be a policy that workplace relationships should be banned.

If you are an adult working for a large company, it’s quite likely that you will meet your soulmate at work.

The issue with workplace relationships is when there is an abuse of power, which can happen in so many ways when a junior and senior staff member get together.

In a modern world where people are more laid back about their relationships, it is interesting that big companies appear not to be so.

Big companies must always be thinking about what can go wrong and what people might be accused of.

What’s also interesting is that it is senior men — as notably there have been no senior women in trouble — who are being held to account.

I guess this is what progress looks like.

BOOZY ROMP RIDDLE

IBIZA-bound Piers Sawyer had a mile-high romp in an easyJet toilet on his 23rd birthday with a woman he’d met at Luton Airport

He had been drinking for NINE hours before he boarded and said he was so drunk he can barely remember her name.

Who says romance is dead, eh?

A friendly air steward opened the door on their antics, allowing all the party-goers on the flight to film Piers and his new lady friend mid-passion.

The footage has now gone viral and been viewed by millions.

Piers’ own mother only found out about it when she switched on Loose Women and saw it being discussed.

EasyJet were so appalled by the actions of Piers and his mystery woman that they refused to fly him and his brother home, so they had to buy new £360 tickets with Tui.

Fair enough.

But it does make you wonder: how on earth was a lad who was so drunk allowed on the flight in the first place?

POLICE, JUST DO BEDDER

IT is not the fact that a young mother caught an intruder on camera breaking into her home and getting into her bed for a nap that is most shocking.

Nor is it the fact that he subsequently tracked her down on Facebook to tell her that he hoped to meet her some day.

Although, all of that is chilling.

The really shocking thing is what happened when Caitlin Sullivan, 22 – who was at her friend’s house when the security camera in the bedroom of her Scottish home buzzed – called the police.

While they came and took the man away, they only spoke to him and did not arrest him.

A Police Scotland spokesman said that, “No criminality was established”.

But since when was breaking and entering someone else’s home not a criminal offence?

ANOTHER day, another bizarre photo of Kanye West and his “wife” Bianca Censori in Europe together.

This latest one is of the two of them eating kebabs together on a bench in Berlin, having queued together to get them.

So far, so normal. It’s just that Bianca is once again wearing a Spanx body suit that is so figure-hugging and sheer she looks as good as naked.

While “Ye” is clad entirely in black, his head covered balaclava-style with a piece of black fabric.

I find it odd to me that he is always covered up from head to toe, emphasising that she is entirely exposed.

I don’t know who her mother is, but if this was my daughter I would fly to Berlin on the next flight, pick her up and not look back.

ROISIN BLOCK WRONG

ALTHOUGH the BBC denied that it pulled a scheduled programme of songs from singer Roisin Murphy as a result of her comments about puberty blockers, the timing makes that a little hard to believe, don’t you think?

About five hours of the Irish singer’s songs, interviews and live performances were to be aired on BBC Radio 6 Music next week.

Instead, they have been replaced by a package featuring the rapper Little Simz.

Roisin, the frontwoman of Moloko, has apologised for her comments.

She has also had gigs cancelled and record promotions stopped – all because someone took a screenshot of a message she’d written on her private Facebook account.

In the message she expressed doubts about puberty blockers, saying vulnerable children should be protected.

She described their use in gender treatment as “absolutely desolate – big pharma laughing all the way to the bank”.

She then added: “Please don’t call me a Terf [trans-exclusionary radical feminist], please don’t keep using that word against women.”

Whether or not you agree with Murphy’s view, that is all it was – her view. It is mad that people are no longer free to express an opinion without risk of cancellation.

It’s time the cancellers were cancelled.

It’s not right that it has become the norm for people to “cancel” someone simply because their opinion differs from their own.

It’s also quite sad that these “cancellers” spend their time trawling the internet looking for things to be offended by.

But also, the absolute irony of it: You can’t demand tolerance then refuse to tolerate other people’s opinions.

CAR-A CRASH LOOKS FOR VOGUE’S BIG NIGHT

ANYONE hoping the Vogue World: London after-party would bring a much-needed dose of escapist glamour was sadly disappointed.

Instead of a night of sartorial fabulousness, almost all of the outfits – from Cara Delevingne’s multi-coloured punk hairdo and purple pants to Emily Ratajkowski’s laddered and torn ensemble – were universally terrible.

Where was the glamour, the opulence, the luxury?

One exception was Bridgerton’s Simone Ashley, who looked incredible.

But for most, I have worn better outfits to walk my dog.