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BBC Chief Admits ‘Horror’ as Sexual Abuse Inquiry Opens BBC Leader Admits ‘Horror’ as a Sexual Abuse Inquiry Opens
(36 minutes later)
LONDON — As the first of a battery of inquiries into Britain’s burgeoning sex abuse scandal opened in a parliamentary committee room on Tuesday, lawmakers reacted with stunned incredulity and barely disguised anger as they sought answers to the painful questions being asked in every living room, commuter train and pub in the country.LONDON — As the first of a battery of inquiries into Britain’s burgeoning sex abuse scandal opened in a parliamentary committee room on Tuesday, lawmakers reacted with stunned incredulity and barely disguised anger as they sought answers to the painful questions being asked in every living room, commuter train and pub in the country.
How could this have happened, over decades, without action to stop it? How could some of the country’s most respected institutions — among them the BBC, the National Health Service, police forces in London and a range of other areas, as well as the national prosecuting authority — have failed to bring the accused principal abuser to book? How could so many vulnerable young girls and boys — more than 200, according to the police — have been exposed to such vileness, for so long, and so blatantly, without anybody stepping in to help them? How could this have happened, over decades, without action to stop it? How could some of the country’s most respected institutions — among them the BBC, the National Health Service, police forces in London and other areas, as well as the national prosecuting authority — have failed to bring the accused principal abuser to book? How could so many vulnerable young girls and boys — more than 200, according to the police — have been exposed to such vileness, for so long,and so blatantly, without anybody stepping in to help them?
The occasion was the opening of hearings by the House of Commons committee on culture, media and sport, and the matter at hand cascading revelations in the past month that have portrayed one of Britain’s most beloved television hosts, Jimmy Savile, who died last year at 84 after half a century of hosting wildly popular programs on the BBC, as an insatiable pedophile, a predator who abused teenagers in children’s homes, in hospitals for the emotionally disturbed, in BBC dressing rooms yards from stage sets where he made himself a national idol. The occasion was the opening of hearings by the House of Commons committee on culture, media and sport, and the matter at hand cascading revelations in the past month that have portrayed one of Britain’s most beloved television hosts, Jimmy Savile, who died last year at 84, as an insatiable pedophile, a predator who abused teenagers in children’s homes, in hospitals for the emotionally disturbed, in BBC dressing rooms yards from stage sets where he made himself a national idol.
The leadoff witness before the parliamentary panel was George Entwistle, director general of the BBC. In his job barely a month, he is likely to be followed by a host of officials from the BBC and other institutions caught up in the scandal who seem sure to be called as witnesses before the parliamentary panel, a police investigation, two inquiries by the BBC, and possibly, though the government has yet to confirm it, a full judicial inquiry. The leadoff witness before the parliamentary panel was George Entwistle, director general of the BBC. In his job barely a month, he is likely to be followed by a host of officials from the BBC and other institutions caught up in the scandal who seem sure to be called as witnesses before the parliamentary panel, a police investigation and two inquiries by the BBC.
Mr. Entwistle acknowledged the damage the revelations have done to the BBC, an institution that many in Britain regard as a repository of much that is best in the country. Mr. Entwistle acknowledged the damage the revelations have done to the BBC, an institution that many in Britain regard as a repository of much that is best in the country. “One can’t look back with anything but horror that his activities went on as long as they did undetected,” he said at the hearing. There was no question, he said, that what Jimmy Savile had done — and that the BBC culture allowed to happen — “will raise questions of trust and reputation for us.”
“One can’t look back with anything but horror that his activities went on as long as they did undetected,” he said at the hearing. “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 and reputation for us.” The extent to which the scandal has shaken the country from its moorings was captured by the sight of one of the BBC’s own political correspondents reporting live from outside the hearing and comparing the elusive testimony of Mr. Entwistle, the reporter’s ultimate boss, to that given last year by James Murdoch. Mr. Murdoch’s stewardship of his father’s media empire in Britain ended, effectively, when he was grilled by the same committee last year as it investigated the phone hacking scandal that has convulsed News Corporation.
The extent to which the scandal has shaken the country from its moorings was captured by the sight of one of the BBC’s own political correspondents reporting live from outside the hearing and comparing the elusive testimony of Mr. Entwistle, the reporter’s ultimate boss, to James Murdoch. Mr. Murdoch’s stewardship of his father’s media empire in Britain ended, effectively, when he was grilled by the same committee last year as it investigated the phone hacking scandal that has convulsed News Corporation. Other events during the day enhanced the sense that the scandal has the potential to force far-reaching change in a cultural climate that many commentators here have described as slow to respond to accusations of sexual abuse, especially when they have involved people in authority or with the power of celebrity. Without waiting for the inquiries to be completed, two charities established by Mr. Savile and bearing his name, dedicated to raising funds for the poor and the sick, announced they were shutting down, and would distribute their funds to other charities.
Other events during the day enhanced the sense that the scandal was gathering pace, with the potential to force far-reaching change in a cultural climate that many commentators here have described as slow to respond to accusations of sexual abuse, especially when they have involved people in authority or with the power of celebrity. Without waiting for the inquiries to be completed, two charities established by Mr. Savile and bearing his name, both dedicated to raising funds for the poor and the sick, announced they were shutting down, and that they would distribute their funds to other charities.
After Mr. Entwistle struggled to give a precise answer to the lawmakers’ questions about other instances of sexual abuse uncovered by the BBC, the broadcaster issued a statement saying it was aware of allegations involving nine other current or former staff members or contributors, whom it did not name, and that it had referred the cases to the police. One may have been the 1970s pop star Gary Glitter, a convicted pedophile who was named in an investigative documentary broadcast by the BBC on Monday as having been accused of abusing young people in BBC studios while performing on one of Mr. Savile’s shows.After Mr. Entwistle struggled to give a precise answer to the lawmakers’ questions about other instances of sexual abuse uncovered by the BBC, the broadcaster issued a statement saying it was aware of allegations involving nine other current or former staff members or contributors, whom it did not name, and that it had referred the cases to the police. One may have been the 1970s pop star Gary Glitter, a convicted pedophile who was named in an investigative documentary broadcast by the BBC on Monday as having been accused of abusing young people in BBC studios while performing on one of Mr. Savile’s shows.
In another development that prompted comparisons with the phone hacking scandal that has embroiled the Murdoch empire, there were fresh signs that inquiries into the Savile scandal may rely heavily on the e-mail trails left by important witnesses.In another development that prompted comparisons with the phone hacking scandal that has embroiled the Murdoch empire, there were fresh signs that inquiries into the Savile scandal may rely heavily on the e-mail trails left by important witnesses.
Channel 4 television reported Tuesday that it had seen an e-mail from a BBC reporter, Liz Mackean, in which she said the editor of “BBC Newsnight,” Peter Rippon, had shelved an investigative report she was working on, diminishing the seriousness of the accusations by saying of the victims “the girls were teenagers, not too young,” and that “they weren’t the worst kind of sexual offenses.” Channel 4 television reported Tuesday that it had seen an e-mail from a BBC reporter, Liz Mackean, in which she said the editor of “BBC Newsnight,” Peter Rippon, who had shelved an investigative report she was working on, had diminished the seriousness of Mr. Savile’s abuse by saying of the victims, “The girls were teenagers, not too young,” and that “they weren’t the worst kind of sexual offenses.”
The decision to kill the Newsnight investigation drew much of the lawmakers’ ire at the hearing. Mr. Rippon was forced to step aside from his Newsnight post on Monday, the first BBC casualty of the scandal, after Mr. Entwistle decided that there were unspecified “inaccuracies” in a blog post by Mr. Rippon defending his decision. In the blog, Mr. Rippon said that journalistic concerns about the conclusiveness of Newsnight’s case against Mr. Savile alone caused him to halt the investigation. The decision to kill the investigation by Newsnight drew much of the lawmakers’ ire at the hearing. Mr. Rippon was forced to step aside from his Newsnight post on Monday, the first BBC casualty of the scandal, after Mr. Entwistle decided that there were unspecified “inaccuracies” in a blog post by Mr. Rippon defending his decision. In the blog, Mr. Rippon said that journalistic concerns about the conclusiveness of Newsnight’s case against Mr. Savile alone, not management pressure, had caused him to halt the investigation.
At its core, the scandal has centered on the extensive evidence, some of the most compelling laid out in the documentary broadcast on Monday, that many people at the BBC and other institutions Mr. Savile frequented, knew or strongly suspected from the 1960s on that he was a serial sexual predator. The program suggested that he felt sufficiently protected by his status against any would-be accusers that he joked and boasted about it.At its core, the scandal has centered on the extensive evidence, some of the most compelling laid out in the documentary broadcast on Monday, that many people at the BBC and other institutions Mr. Savile frequented, knew or strongly suspected from the 1960s on that he was a serial sexual predator. The program suggested that he felt sufficiently protected by his status against any would-be accusers that he joked and boasted about it.
The parliamentary committee focused on more recent issues, including the role of top BBC executives in acquiescing in Mr. Rippon’s decision to kill the Newsnight investigation in the last weeks of 2011. Mr. Entwistle, then the BBC’s television chief, said he first heard of the Newsnight story when the head of BBC News warned him that it might require the cancellation of several tribute programs to Mr. Savile that were scheduled to run over Christmas. The parliamentary committee focused on more recent issues, including the role of top BBC executives in acquiescing in Mr. Rippon’s decision to kill the investigation by Newsnight in the last weeks of 2011. Mr. Entwistle, then the BBC’s television chief, said he first heard of the Newsnight story when the head of BBC News warned him that it might require the cancellation of several tribute programs on Mr. Savile set to run over Christmas.
Mr. Entwistle said he had not asked the subject of the Newsnight investigation so as not to infringe on a BBC management policy of giving program editors full autonomy. Mr. Entwistle said he had not asked the subject of the program’s investigation so as not to infringe on a BBC management policy of giving program editors full autonomy. That drew astonished responses from committee members, one of whom suggested that his lack of curiosity bordered on “willful blindness.”
Ben Bradshaw, a former BBC reporter who is a panel member, offered a withering rebuke to Mr. Entwistle. “You have to get a grip,” he said.

Alan Cowell contributed reporting.

Alan Cowell contributed reporting.