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Jimmy Savile: BBC director general defends response Jimmy Savile: BBC director general defends response
(35 minutes later)
  
Director general George Entwistle has defended the BBC's response to the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal. Director general George Entwistle has defended the BBC's response to the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal, but accepted it raised questions of trust.
He told the Commons culture committee that since the "very, very grave" claims had emerged, "we have done much of what we should have done".He told the Commons culture committee that since the "very, very grave" claims had emerged, "we have done much of what we should have done".
Mr Entwistle said he believed a "broader cultural problem" within the BBC in the past had allowed Savile to carry out his abuse. A past "cultural problem" at the BBC had allowed abuse by the presenter.
This "will raise questions of trust for us and reputation for us", he said. He also said the BBC was investigating five to 10 "serious allegations" involving past and present employees.
"There is no question that what Jimmy Savile did and the way the BBC behaved in the years - the culture and practices of the BBC seems to allow Jimmy Savile to do what he did - will raise questions of trust for us and reputation for us," he told the Commons culture, media and sport select committee."There is no question that what Jimmy Savile did and the way the BBC behaved in the years - the culture and practices of the BBC seems to allow Jimmy Savile to do what he did - will raise questions of trust for us and reputation for us," he told the Commons culture, media and sport select committee.
"This is a gravely serious matter and one cannot look back at it with anything other than horror, frankly, that... his activities went on as long as they did undetected.""This is a gravely serious matter and one cannot look back at it with anything other than horror, frankly, that... his activities went on as long as they did undetected."
Police have described the late DJ and television presenter as a predatory sex offender, and believe he may have abused many people, including young girls, over a 40-year period. Police have described Savile, who was also a DJ and died last year aged 84, as a predatory sex offender, and believe he may have abused many people, including young girls, over a 40-year period.
Mr Entwistle is expected to be asked why a Newsnight report on abuse allegations against Savile was dropped last year. A criminal investigation is under way.
In a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01nspvr/Panorama_Jimmy_Savile_What_the_BBC_Knew/" >BBC Panorama report on Monday, one alleged victim expressed anger Newsnight had not aired her interview. Mr Entwistle said: "I'm not sure in the 60s and 70s... they [staff] would have felt there was anything they could do" about sexual harassment.
BBC political correspondent Norman Smith called Tuesday a "huge day" for the BBC, with "much hanging" on Mr Entwistle's performance before the Commons select committee. Nowadays BBC staff "know where to go" over harassment complaints, he added.
He would be facing "key questions about what he actually knew about the original Newsnight investigation, and the decision to pull it - but also I think questions about his judgement and handling as director general once the scandal erupted". But, on sexual discrimination within the corporation, Mr Entwistle said: "I believe the culture has changed at the BBC but I am not convinced that it has changed as much as it should have."
MPs will want to ask Mr Entwistle about the decision by Newsnight's editor Peter Rippon to pull his programme's investigation into Jimmy Savile last December. 'Regret and embarrassment'
Was he subjected to pressure from BBC managers? Was his decision affected by the knowledge that the BBC had a special tribute to Jimmy Savile scheduled over Christmas? On Monday, href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01nspvr/Panorama_Jimmy_Savile_What_the_BBC_Knew/" >BBC Panorama reported on the abuse allegations and an earlier BBC Newsnight investigation into Savile that was dropped last December.
Mr Rippon spelt out the reasons for his decision in a blog earlier this month; but former members of his team gave a rather different account to Panorama, and the BBC has now admitted that some of the details in Mr Rippon's version of events were "inaccurate or incomplete". Mr Entwistle said that, after seeing the Panorama broadcast, he believed the investigation by Newsnight into Savile should have been allowed to continue.
So MPs may also want to ask why the BBC's managers accepted what their editor told them, rather than probing more deeply. All of these questions the BBC hopes will be answered in due course by an internal inquiry. Mr Entwistle said the Panorama programme pointed to the BBC's health as a media organisation, rather than being a "symptom of chaos", because it showed the organisation's capacity to investigate itself.
But the toughest question of all for George Entwistle may be one that only he can answer. Why, when he was told in advance in his previous job as head of television that Newsnight was investigating Jimmy Savile, did he not scrap that Christmas special? He said no other news organisation in the world would do this.
BBC Newsnight editor Peter Rippon has stepped aside amid an inquiry into why the programme dropped its investigation into sex abuse allegations against Savile. Newsnight editor Peter Rippon has stepped aside amid an independent inquiry - led by former Sky head of news Nick Pollard - into why the programme dropped its investigation.
On Monday evening, Panorama showed for the first time an interview Newsnight had filmed last November with Karin Ward, an ex-pupil at Duncroft approved school for girls in Staines, Surrey, when she had been ill with cancer. The director general said it was a matter of "regret and embarrassment" that Mr Rippon's original blog post about the dropping of the report had been inaccurate.
Ms Ward said she had been abused by Savile and recalled seeing Gary Glitter, now a convicted paedophile, having sexual intercourse with a girl from the school in Savile's dressing room. Glitter denies the latest allegations. But he told MPs that he believed, "to the best of the evidence we have been able to assemble", the explanation now being offered by the BBC for the dropping of the Newsnight report was accurate.
Ms Ward told Panorama she had been angered when her interview was not aired.
"The fact that I'd gone through all that stress when I really needed to concentrate on getting well, and then they never used it - because somebody higher up didn't believe me," she said.
Panorama reported allegations that the Top of the Pops programme had been a centre of abuse - and Savile was not the only person involved.
Liz Dux, a lawyer for some of the victims, told Panorama: "The stories that I'm hearing from some of the victims are that they did report the abuse and that no action was taken."
She added: "There are some quite serious allegations that a paedophile ring was operating."
Earlier this month, in a blog, Mr Rippon explained the editorial reasons behind his decision to axe the Newsnight report. He said it was "totally untrue" he had been ordered to do it by bosses as part of a BBC cover-up.Earlier this month, in a blog, Mr Rippon explained the editorial reasons behind his decision to axe the Newsnight report. He said it was "totally untrue" he had been ordered to do it by bosses as part of a BBC cover-up.
On Monday the BBC issued a correction to some specific elements of the blog, calling it "inaccurate or incomplete in some respects", although it did not suggest he had been put under pressure to drop the report.On Monday the BBC issued a correction to some specific elements of the blog, calling it "inaccurate or incomplete in some respects", although it did not suggest he had been put under pressure to drop the report.
Following the Panorama broadcast, a BBC statement added: "We should also make it clear we now accept that the Newsnight investigation did not start out as an investigation into the Surrey police's handling of the case against Mr Savile."Following the Panorama broadcast, a BBC statement added: "We should also make it clear we now accept that the Newsnight investigation did not start out as an investigation into the Surrey police's handling of the case against Mr Savile."
Meanwhile, two charities set up in Savile's name are to close. As well as the Pollard review, former Court of Appeal judge Dame Janet Smith will lead a review into the culture and practices of the BBC during Savile's time at the corporation and will also examine if the BBC's child protection and whistleblowing policies are fit for purpose.
The Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust and the Jimmy Savile Stoke Mandeville Hospital Trust say their funds will be distributed to other charities, after deciding against continuing under new names because they felt they would always be linked in the public's mind with the late presenter. She has said she expects to start work on Monday.
The Metropolitan Police have launched a criminal inquiry into the allegations against Savile, who died last October aged 84.
The Panorama programme, Jimmy Savile - What the BBC Knew, can be seen again on the BBC iPlayer.The Panorama programme, Jimmy Savile - What the BBC Knew, can be seen again on the BBC iPlayer.