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George Entwistle's £450,000 payment 'hard to justify' - No 10 George Entwistle's £450,000 payment 'hard to justify' - No 10
(about 1 hour later)
Downing Street has criticised the BBC's decision to pay ex-director general George Entwistle a year's salary, calling it "hard to justify".Downing Street has criticised the BBC's decision to pay ex-director general George Entwistle a year's salary, calling it "hard to justify".
Sources said David Cameron believed it was a matter for Mr Entwistle's "conscience" whether he accepted the full £450,000 pay-off.Sources said David Cameron believed it was a matter for Mr Entwistle's "conscience" whether he accepted the full £450,000 pay-off.
Several MPs have attacked the move.Several MPs have attacked the move.
Mr Entwistle resigned on Saturday, after a Newsnight report led to former Tory treasurer Lord McAlpine being wrongly accused of child abuse.Mr Entwistle resigned on Saturday, after a Newsnight report led to former Tory treasurer Lord McAlpine being wrongly accused of child abuse.
He had been in the job for just 54 days.He had been in the job for just 54 days.
Labour is seeking an urgent government statement on the issue in Parliament later, saying the pay-out is "not justifiable". Labour has been granted an urgent government statement on the issue in Parliament.
'Every sympathy' 'Large amount'
The BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent, Norman Smith, said the prime minister was expected to address the turmoil at the BBC at a question-and-answer event later on Monday. Culture Secretary Maria Miller said the BBC Trust needed to justify paying Mr Entwistle double the six-month severance payment he was entitled to in his contract.
Downing Street had reiterated its "hands-off approach" to events at the BBC, he added, insisting it was a matter for the broadcaster to resolve its current problems. "This is a large amount of money, and tough to justify considering the circumstances of Mr Entwistle's departure and his contractual arrangements," she said.
It wasn't easy for MPs who wanted to defend the BBC. A flagship programme had in effect wrongly accused a senior Conservative of child abuse.
But the manner and swiftness of George Entwistle's departure allowed them to talk of the "honour" shown at the top of the organisation.
Then news of his pay-off emerged. Even those with sympathy for the corporation have been transformed at least into temporary critics.
Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman is pressing for a Commons debate on the issue.
And the £450,000 pay-off has permitted the prime minister to enter, rather than stay above, the fray.
He has studiously avoided a public row with the BBC, or being seen to be exercising any political influence on its internal affairs.
But he and Culture Secretary Maria Miller haven't lost the opportunity to appear as champions of the licence fee-payer by asking the BBC Trust - the body which approved the pay-off - to justify its actions.
When the debate takes place at Westminster, many MPs won't confine their criticisms of the BBC to the pay-off.
If the task now is for the BBC to restore the public's trust, even its staunchest supporters will take the view that Mr Entwistle's severance terms have hindered rather than helped.
"The Trust will need to justify this - it is accountable to licence fee payers in ensuring value for money, and we expect it to have considered that carefully.
The BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent, Norman Smith, said Mrs Miller was expected to raise the issue when she meets BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten later to discuss the turmoil at the broadcaster.
Downing Street had reiterated its "hands-off approach" to events at the BBC over its coverage of child abuse allegations, he added, insisting it was a matter for the broadcaster to resolve its current problems.
Asked whether the pay-off further undermined trust in the BBC, acting director general Tim Davie said it was not his decision and was a "matter for the BBC Trust".
The BBC Trust said the size of the pay-off, the equivalent of a year's salary, reflected the fact that Mr Entwistle would continue to help on BBC business, most specifically two ongoing inquiries related to the Jimmy Savile abuse allegations.The BBC Trust said the size of the pay-off, the equivalent of a year's salary, reflected the fact that Mr Entwistle would continue to help on BBC business, most specifically two ongoing inquiries related to the Jimmy Savile abuse allegations.
A number of Conservative MPs have attacked the pay-off to Mr Entwistle, who held the top job for just 54 days.
He quit on Saturday after criticism of his leadership of the BBC in the wake of a Newsnight film in which a victim of alleged abuse at a children's home in Wales in the 1970s accused an unnamed former senior Conservative politician of involvement.
Speculation on the internet and Twitter linking Lord McAlpine to the case led him to issue a public statement saying such claims were "wholly false and seriously defamatory" and it emerged on Friday that he had been wrongly identified and implicated.
'Not helpful'
Conservative MP John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee, said a lot of people would be "surprised" at the size of Mr Entwistle's pay-off.
"I wouldn't have thought that just because you have to help any inquiry into the Savile allegations you necessarily need to be paid such a large amount of money," he said.
Tessa Jowell, a former Labour culture secretary, told the BBC's Daily Politics that £450,000 "sounds a lot of money", but warned against politicians "micro-managing" the BBC's affairs.
"It is the BBC Trust chairman's job to say here's why we considered this was justified and we have not heard had that yet."
Media commentator Steve Hewlett said the former BBC boss was entitled to compensation for losing his job, since he had "not done anything wrong in the moral or ethical sense".Media commentator Steve Hewlett said the former BBC boss was entitled to compensation for losing his job, since he had "not done anything wrong in the moral or ethical sense".
"The point is he was the wrong guy for the wrong job at this time and one has every sympathy for him."The point is he was the wrong guy for the wrong job at this time and one has every sympathy for him.
"So I think this is the Trust in effect saying that they bear some responsibility for appointing him, because what does this mean for his career, where's he going to work now?""So I think this is the Trust in effect saying that they bear some responsibility for appointing him, because what does this mean for his career, where's he going to work now?"
And Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster, said the BBC should be left to get on with the task of reviewing what had happened and that it was "not helpful" for Downing Street to question the size of Mr Entwistle's payment.