Jimmy Savile: George Entwistle receives drilling over BBC actions

George Entwistle goes before Commons Culture Committee and receives a two hour Q & A...

The Director General of the BBC George Entwistle has appeared before MPs concerning the Jimmy Savile allegations. Mr. Entwistle, who volunteered to be questioned by the panel over the scandal, reportedly admitted the BBC’s reputation is under scrutiny following sex abuse claims.

It may not have gone as Mr. Entwistle had hoped, as attacks came from MPs for two hours. The outcome of the revelations concerning the BBC could, according to some reports, affect the general public’s trust in the BBC.

It is thought that some topics that were discussed concerned Mr. Entwistle’s reaction to the news about Jimmy Savile when it first emerged.

The Independent quoted Mr. Entwistle as saying "It was a busy lunch" in their report, which was his explanation for his “lack of curiosity”. The Sun newspaper referred to the BBC Chief as being “humiliated” following the Q & A session.

During the meeting Mr. Entwistle fought back and described how he was responsible for prompting two investigations into the Savile allegations. As reported by the BBC, Mr. Entwistle also complied with the police and delayed these inquiries, with Chairman Lord Patten giving the nod to this.

This followed the events on Monday morning where the chief stated the general public had been misled concerning Newsnight. This relates to them shelving their investigations into the Jimmy Savile sex abuse claims.

Mr. Entwistle also commented on the BBC’s Panorama special, according to reports, which was aired on TV on Monday night and looked at Newsnight and the reasons why it dropped its inquiries. It is understood that since seeing the programme, Mr. Entwistle believes the investigations should not have been stopped.

This goes against what Peter Rippon has said, as he stated Newsnight’s inquiries were not aired because of “editorial reasons”. Mr. Rippon is expected to make a public response soon.

The late Jimmy Savile was a TV presenter between 1975 to 1994.