The board of BP had already relieved him of direct supervision of BPs response and called him home. Other than PR, he really wasn't needed here. The Designated Person Ashore already had the authority to spend what's needed for clean up.
Peter,
I'm seeing some stuff that's pointing to some confusion about this.
I know yesterday it was said he'd been called home. Tonight (over on MSNBC), I'm reading where that may not be the case:
"Questions remained about whether Hayward is still in charge of the cleanup effort. BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg seemed to suggest Friday that he was being withdrawn from the front line of the response.
"It is clear that Tony has made remarks that have upset people," Svanberg told Sky News television, adding that Hayward was "now handing over" daily operations to BP Managing Director Bob Dudley.
But BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams said Svanberg was misunderstood and that only a transition to Dudley, an American with 30 years in the oil business, had begun.
"Hayward is very much in charge until we've stopped the leak," she told the AP on Saturday."
My own personal opinion is if he HAS been called home, there needed to be a really clear announcement of that. And even if he had, it might have been wise to keep a low profile for a couple of weeks while his replacement transitioned in.
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