Entwistle's £450,000 golden goodbye signed off by BBC boss as she watched Strictly Come Dancing

 
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13 November 2012

Pressure was today mounting on the BBC’s former boss to hand back his £450,000 pay-off as it was revealed the lucrative deal was signed off by a boss as she drank wine and watched Strictly Come Dancing.

George Entwistle was awarded the sum after he resigned in the wake of the botched Newsnight investigation which wrongly implicated a former Tory politician in a child sex abuse scandal.

Today the Deputy Prime Minister waded into the row saying it was “hard to justify” as it emerged that the BBC Trust’s vice chairman Diana Coyle approved the golden handshake - twice the amount he is entitled to - while she watched the popular television show on Saturday evening and tweeted about it.

Nick Clegg said the ex-Director General did not “need to take” the payout, which is the equivalent of a full year’s pay, after just 54 days into the job.

He said: “Mr Entwistle’s payoff is hard to justify, it is hard to explain.”

He added: “Mr Entwistle was offered this money, he did not need to take it and it is up to the BBC to justify.”

Lord Patten, the BBC Trust’s chairman was also facing calls to resign today after he defended the payout saying he offered double the amount to ensure he would step down quickly. He consulted Ms Coyle in a telephone call on Saturday during the Strictly broadcast, and once she had agreed the offer was made to Mr Entwistle.

Mr Clegg’s comments come as the Prime Minister and Culture Secretary Maria Miller added their voices to growing criticism over the payoff.

Ms Miller was expected to raise the issue in talks with Lord Patten today among other issues including the search for a new permanent director general at the corporation.

The barrage of criticism comes as fresh details emerged of the chaos among the Newsnight team in the days before the BBC issued an apology for it’s investigation which wrongly suggested Lord McAlpine had abused boys at a children’s home in North Wales.

The November 2 broadcast featured an interview with victim Steven Messham who, although did not name him, insisted his abuser was a former senior Tory figure.

A senior source close to the programme today told the Standard that editors became increasingly “uncomfortable” after the programme went out but it took seven days before an apology was made.

Several attempts were made to contact Mr Messham and on each occasion he confirmed his story. However, he was still not shown a picture of the man he was accusing and no attempt was made to contact Lord McAlpine.

“We had heard various rumours all week that this might be mistaken identity but Steve Messham was still sticking to his story,” the source said. The BBC insider added, despite being aware of Lord McAlpine’s denial that he was not involved in the alleged child sex ring at the Bryn Estyn home in Wrexham, the newsnight team did not have any discussions with top bosses about the impending disaster until late on Friday.

It was also revealed that a ‘sensitive’ Panorama programme about Daily Telegraph owners the Barclay brothers, was pulled by Mr Entwistle last week because it was approved by the director of news Helen Boaden and her deputy Stephen Mitchell - who both yesterday “stepped aside” from their posts.

An insider told the Standard: “The Barclay brothers piece had been seen by both Helen Boaden and Steve Mitchell who both believed it to be an excellent piece but the Director General was being very cautious because it was those two who had okayed it.

“It is very unusual for a Director General to override a decision made by the Head of News and the Deputy Head of news, but that is an indication of the editorial dysfunction going on.”

The source added it was also an indication of how relations had deteriorated between Mr Entwistle and Ms Boaden and Mr Mitchell following the alleged BBC cover-up over Jimmy Savile’s abuse.

Senior BBC employees are facing the prospect of disciplinary action after the corporation admitted the Newsnight programme failed to complete “basic journalistic checks”. Among them is Peter Johnston, director of BBC Northern Ireland, who gave the programme the final go-ahead and today indicated he would not quit over the scandal.

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