THE BBC is investigating up to ten “serious allegations” involving past and present employees, director general George Entwistle said today, as he faced a grilling from MPs about the broadcaster’s handling of claims of sexual abuse by former presenter Jimmy Savile.
• BBC boss in front of Culture, Media and Sport Committee
• Panorama reveals Newsnight investigation had enough evidence
• Between 5 and 10 ‘serious allegations’ from Jimmy Savile period
Mr Entwhistle told the Commons Culture, Media And Sport select committee, when pressed on the scale of current internal investigations: “We are looking at between five and ten serious allegations relating to activities over the whole period in question, the Savile period.”
That included claims of sexual harassment made against people still working at the BBC, he added, but he could not say how many.
Mr Entwistle said Savile’s alleged behaviour had been possible only because of a “broader cultural problem” at the BBC.
And there was insufficient evidence yet to say whether or not abuse was “endemic”.
But he said it was important to differentiate between complaints of sexual harassment and those of criminal behaviour, such as underage sex.
Opening the hearing, the director general defended the Corporation’s handling of the case - including setting up two independent investigations.
“I would accept that there have been times when we have taken longer to do things than in a perfect world I would have liked,” he said.
“But I think if you looked at what we have achieved since the scale of the crisis became clear, I think you see we have done much of what we should have done and done it in the right order and with proper respect paid to the right authorities.”
Newsnight
Mr Entwistle was also facing criticism over the decision not to broadcast a Newsnight investigation including interviews with Savile’s victims last year.
His appearance before the committee came the morning after the BBC’s Panorama programme broadcast an investigation into Savile and into the decision to ditch the Newsnight film, at a time when he was head of TV.
Newsnight editor Peter Rippon stepped aside yesterday after the BBC said his explanation of why the show dropped its investigation into Savile was “inaccurate or incomplete”.
Mr Entwistle told him Savile’s activities were “a very, very grave matter indeed”, and said that, when the scale and credibility of the allegations came to light thanks to an ITV investigation, he immediately personally contacted the police.
The scandal had raised questions of trust and reputation in the BBC, he conceded.
He told MPs: “There’s no question that what Jimmy Savile did and the way the BBC behaved - the culture and practices of the BBC seemed to allow Jimmy Savile to do what he did - will raise questions of trust for us and reputation for us. There’s no question about that.
“It is a gravely serious matter and one cannot look back at it with anything but horror that his activities went on as long as they did undetected.
“Of course, that is a matter of grave regret to me.”
Mr Entwistle said the inquiry by Nick Pollard, former head of Sky News, into why the Newsnight investigation into Savile was dropped is expected to report back “in weeks”.
He admitted that a factually inaccurate account of the scandal in a blog by Mr Rippon had caused embarrassment.
Mr Entwistle said: “There’s no doubt that it is a matter of regret and embarrassment that the version of events recorded in Peter Rippon’s blog on October 2 did not turn out to be as accurate as they should have been.”
Mr Rippon defended his decision to axe the report in a BBC blog earlier this month but yesterday the corporation issued a correction.
As it happened: The Scotsman’s David Maddox reported from the hearing...
12.30pm: The director-general said that the editor of Newsnight was solely to blame “to the best of my knowledge” for the Newsnight investigation to be pulled. Mr Entwistle said: “The decision was made by Peter Rippon on his own account and what was going on in his mind is something we have got to rely on the Pollard review to get to the bottom of.”
He added that the “BBC would not have had any difficulty whatsoever in reforming a Christmas schedule in the light of a Newsnight investigation.”
12.25pm: Mr Entwistle denied Labour MP Steve Rotherham’s suggestion that the BBC would “have pursued the investigation differently and with more urgency if it had been a different celebrity and diffeent broadcaster.”
Mr Entwistle pointed out: “As far as I am aware that over the years no newspaper landed any investigation on Jimmy Savile.”
Mr Enwistle said that it did not follow that the decision on 5 November last year by Peter Rippon to pull the Newsnight investigation was linked to the schedule or outside pressure.
He said: “It is possible that Mr Rippon may have just changed his mind.”
He added that Mr Rippon was “fixated on the police investigation” in Savile which the program was based on.
11.50am: Mr Entwistle admitted his appearance on the Today program after the ITV documentary gave the wrong impression about the BBC. He said: “I should have made it clear that I was always prepared to see an internal investigation.”
11.40am: Labour MP Paul Farrelly asked why the BBC had missed the main story that Savile was a paedophile and noted that Mr Rippon’s blog had highlighted that the investigation had not raised new questions about the police as a reason for pulling it. Mr Farrelly said to Mr Entwistle: “There seems to me that there was an amazing lack of curiosity by journalists. You and an organisation full of journalists.”
11.35am: Mr Collins asked why as editor in chief Mr Entwhistle had not become involved in the decision making on the programme. Mr Entwhistle said: “The editor in chief becomes involved in very few programmes.”
11.30am: The director-general came under fire for not getting all the information before he made public statements on the Newsnight item. Mr Enwhistle said he did not look at the Newsnight scripts before making a public statement so he “could be in reserve” to deal with a disciplinary matter should it become necessary.
He added: “I was very disappointed the blog [by Peter Rippon explaining why the story was pulled] was inaccurate.”
Tory MP Damian Collins said: “Disappointed? That’s not a very raw emotion considering what has gone on.”
11.27am: Mr Entwhistle said there “had been a breakdown in communications” between journalists and the editor at Newsnight.
Mr Bradshaw attacked Mr Entwhistle for continuing to “tour the studios still peddling Mr Rippon’s version of events” after he had received evidence it was not correct.
Mr Entwhistle insisted that at the time he had no reason to disbelieve Mr Rippon’s account.
11.25am: Mr Entwhistle was asked by Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, a former Culture Secretary, if the decision to pull the Newsnight inquiry was a “catastrophic error”.
Mr Entwhistle said: “I came away from that Panorama program firmly of the view that that investigation should have been allowed to continue.”
11.20am: Tory MP Thérèse Coffey said that Mr Rippon’s use of “just the women”, talking about the victims, in defending his decision to pull the Savile item from Newsnight “shows that the culture has not changed at all”.
Mr Entwhistle insisted that the culture has changed, but admitted: “That phrase is unacceptable.”
11.15am: Mr Entwhistle defended the inability of the Corporation which had uncovered paedophile activities in news investigations to realise what Savile was doing. He said: “From what I have discovered so far Mr Savile conducted his disgusting behaviour in a manner which was very carefully and successfully concealed.”
But he said that the celebrity had got away with his crimes. He said: “Jimmy Savile is dead now so to that extent he has got away with it.”
He told the committee he has appealed to BBC employees past and present to come for ward if they have any information.
11.10am: Mr Davies said that Mr Entwhistle had a “lamentable lack of knowledge”.
11am: Mr Entwhistle came under fire for not knowing what the current situation is at the BBC and not being able to say how many of the five to ten serious cases involved current employees.
Tory MP Philip Davies told the director general that he “needs to get a grip of your organisation”.
Mr Davies he was “surprised” when Mr Entwhistle admitted he had not looked into how many complaints of sexual harrassment there have been.
Mr Entwhistle said: “I have been assured that there have not been a significant number.”
He was asked by mr Davies what was a significant number and said that he would be concerned if there were “more than five a year”.
Mr Davies retorted: “So up to five a year is OK then?”
Mr Entwhistle said “information is being assembled” on current employees of the BBC.
He added that the BBC review would answer specific questions including who took children back stage to see Savile or whether there was a paedophile ring at the BBC.
Mr Davies accused him of trying to “farm off” responsibility for answering the questions.
10.50am: Mr Entwhistle told MPs that he “is convinced” that there was a culture at the BBC which allowed abuse by Savile and others to take place. But he added: “I’m not sure in the 60s and 70s people thought there was anything they could do.”
10.45am: Mr Entwhistle told the committee the police asked him not to set up an internal inquiry immediately. He said that the BBC’s reputation has been damaged by the story. “There is no question what Jimmy Savile did and the way the BBC behaved in the years and the culture and practice will raise questions of trust and reputation for us. This is a gravely serious matter and cannot look back with anything but horror.”
On the need to make a correction to Mr Rippon’s blog as to the reasons for pulling the Newsnight investigation Mr Entwhistle said it was “an embarrassment.”