BBC presenter scandal: Will the name be revealed through 'privilege'?

With media houses airing and publishing news about a BBC presenter at the heart of the "sex pics" scandal, the name of the said person is not known to people — and they might not even know it anytime soon.

Some Members of Parliament in Britain threatened to release the name of the BBC presenter as the controversy gained momentum.

But, in response to the threats, Government minister Mel Stride said he would use Parliamentary privilege to name the BBC presenter.

Parliamentary privilege gives MPs and peers unrestricted free speech in their debating chambers — meaning they can name names without fear of being sued.

British media has been gripped in recent days by a report in The Sun newspaper that cited the young person's mother as saying a BBC presenter paid the now 20-year-old 35,000 pounds ($44,828) for photos over three years beginning when they were 17.

The Work and Pensions Secretary told LBC radio: "I think everybody has to take their own decision on this one.

"I can only tell you what I would do, which is that I would not be naming anybody in the House of Commons.

"Parliamentary privilege is a very special and privileged thing, and it should be used very, very sparingly.

"My own view is that, regarding the BBC situation, not enough is known yet by the outside world of absolutely what has been going on here."

As the pressure mounts on BBC to expedite the probe into the 'sex pics scandal', the UK broadcaster has refused to give a timeline, saying it's "impossible" to predict a timescale.

"You've got to make sure that it is thorough, that you are being absolutely fair to the employee concerned but equally time is of the essence," HR advisor Dulcie Swanston told the British state media.

"So, I really feel for the people who are doing this because they are doing this with an additional pressure.

"Believe me, when I've done investigations like this they are hard enough without the additional pressure of being scrutinised by people who actually don't have the expertise to scrutinise it."

Allegations that an unnamed BBC presenter paid a young person to pose for explicit photos are "rubbish", a lawyer acting for the young person has told the broadcaster in a letter.

The lawyer said the young person sent a denial to the Sun newspaper on Friday evening, when it first published the allegation, saying there was "no truth" to it, the BBC said.