BBC sex crisis deepens as PM demands answers
Source: Agencies |
October 23, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE BBC faced growing fallout yesterday over sexual abuse allegations against a popular children's TV entertainer, as Prime Minister David Cameron accused the broadcaster of changing its story about why it killed a news segment on the accusations.
The broadcaster tried to stem the damage, saying in a statement that a top editor had stepped down from its BBC Newsnight program after he was found to have given incomplete, inaccurate explanations for the decision to keep an investigation of the late Jimmy Savile from being broadcast in December.
"The BBC is a public service broadcaster that depends on the public trust, and anything that suggests it hasn't been truthful undermines that trust," Conservative Party lawmaker Rob Wilson said.
Police are investigating accusations against Savile and say there may be more than 200 potential victims of the entertainer, the longtime host of the BBC's "Top of the Pops" and "Jim'll Fix It," recognized for his garish track suits and platinum hair.
The BBC's tough statement about editor Peter Rippon deepened the suspicion that there had been a cover-up. It is suspected of pulling the Newsnight segment because of its harsh portrayal of Savile, who was hailed as a popular fixture in children's TV when he died at 84 last year.
Wilson said the BBC has tried to evade responsibility for its long tolerance of Savile.
"They were sidestepping the story, hoping it would go away," he said. "The BBC was saying the cultural issues that led to this were in the past, but when we saw BBC looking at the Jimmy Savile issue and finding out uncomfortable things, they appeared to want to cover it up."
The BBC's backtracking prompted unusual criticism from the prime minister.
"The nation is appalled, we are all appalled by the allegations of what Jimmy Savile did and they seem to get worse by the day," Cameron said, accusing the BBC of changing its story about why it decided not to broadcast the piece.
The broadcaster tried to stem the damage, saying in a statement that a top editor had stepped down from its BBC Newsnight program after he was found to have given incomplete, inaccurate explanations for the decision to keep an investigation of the late Jimmy Savile from being broadcast in December.
"The BBC is a public service broadcaster that depends on the public trust, and anything that suggests it hasn't been truthful undermines that trust," Conservative Party lawmaker Rob Wilson said.
Police are investigating accusations against Savile and say there may be more than 200 potential victims of the entertainer, the longtime host of the BBC's "Top of the Pops" and "Jim'll Fix It," recognized for his garish track suits and platinum hair.
The BBC's tough statement about editor Peter Rippon deepened the suspicion that there had been a cover-up. It is suspected of pulling the Newsnight segment because of its harsh portrayal of Savile, who was hailed as a popular fixture in children's TV when he died at 84 last year.
Wilson said the BBC has tried to evade responsibility for its long tolerance of Savile.
"They were sidestepping the story, hoping it would go away," he said. "The BBC was saying the cultural issues that led to this were in the past, but when we saw BBC looking at the Jimmy Savile issue and finding out uncomfortable things, they appeared to want to cover it up."
The BBC's backtracking prompted unusual criticism from the prime minister.
"The nation is appalled, we are all appalled by the allegations of what Jimmy Savile did and they seem to get worse by the day," Cameron said, accusing the BBC of changing its story about why it decided not to broadcast the piece.
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