CMS Committee MP: Patten Must Quit

Three Members Slam BBC Trust Chair

Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee members are piling the pressure on Lord Patten this evening. Philip Davies has called for him to resign, while Conor Burns and Angie Bray want him to explain himself to the committee as soon as possible. Fatty Pang’s attempt towhitewash the Pollard tape whic Guido published on Wednesday morning is going well then.Mark Thompson has serious questions to answer too. Stay tuned for more developments tomorrow.

Nick Pollard, who headed an independent inquiry into why the BBC’s Newsnight program shelved its probe into the Savile scandal, was asked if Thompson’s “instinct” was to “lie” when he appeared before the inquiry. 

Pollard replied, “Yes. Well… yeah, yeah.” 

The five-minute edited recording of the conversation between Pollard and an unnamed journalist was published online on Wednesday. 

Pollard also admitted in the tape recording his failure to include some evidence in the report into the Savile scandal. 

He explained he did not include in his review a claim by the BBC’s former director of news Helen Boaden that she had informed Thompson about a Newsnight report into sex abuse allegations against the BBC’s former presenter. 

Following the release of the audio recording, British Tory MP Rob Wilson demanded action, accusing the BBC chiefs of knowing about Savile’s deeds. 

“Both Helen Boaden and Mark Thompson need to come before the Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and answer questions about what was the nature of their conversation,” Wilson said. 

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