British PM criticises BBC over Savile scandal
UK: British Prime Minister David Cameron accused the BBC Monday of
changing its story about Jimmy Savile as an editor who dropped an
investigation into sex abuse claims against the late star stepped aside.
Peter Rippon, editor of the BBC's flagship current affairs programme
Newsnight, became the first head to roll as a documentary aired on
Monday accused the world's largest public broadcaster of a cover-up. The
BBC said a blog by Rippon, in which he explained why a show about Savile
was dropped in December last year for editorial reasons, was "inaccurate
or incomplete in some respects" and has been corrected. Cameron said the
country was "appalled" by the growing claims against Savile, who with
his jangling jewellery and shiny tracksuits was one of British
television's best-loved stars before his death last year aged 84.
"The nation is appalled, we're all appalled by the allegations of
what Jimmy Savile did and they seem to get worse by the day," Cameron
told reporters.
"The developments today are concerning because the BBC has
effectively changed its story about why it dropped the Newsnight
programme about Jimmy Savile." The prime minister added that "serious
questions"need to be answered by the two independent inquiries that the
BBC has launched into the allegations about Savile.
AFP
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