This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/25/bbc-tony-blackburn-savile-inquiry-evidence-janet-smith

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Tony Blackburn: BBC has hung me out to dry over Savile review BBC embroiled in row with Tony Blackburn after Savile review published
(about 3 hours later)
Tony Blackburn says the BBC has hung him “out to dry” after the corporation’s director general revealed the veteran DJ had been sacked for failing to co-operate with an investigation into sexual abuse at the broadcaster. The BBC has become embroiled in a row with one of its longest-serving radio presenters on the day in which the broadcaster was heavily criticised by an independent inquiry for the way it had allowed stars like Jimmy Savile to abuse women and children for nearly 50 years.
Lord Hall told a press conference on Thursday that Blackburn, 73, and the BBC had parted company because Dame Janet Smith rejected evidence Blackburn gave to her investigation of abuse by BBC stars Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall. The BBC director general, Tony Hall, said on Thursday that the corporation had decided to “part company” with Tony Blackburn because, he said, the presenter had failed to fully cooperate with one element of Dame Janet Smith’s report into sexual abuse by Savile and others at the BBC.
Blackburn accused the BBC of making him a “scapegoat” and warned he was considering legal action against his former employer. Blackburn, the first DJ to broadcast on Radio 1 when it launched in 1967, threatened to take legal action against the corporation, claiming he had been made a scapegoat for its historical failings.
The DJ had denied in evidence that he had ever been interviewed by BBC staff about a complaint against him by a teenager in 1971. But Smith, in her inquiry report, said she “preferred” the evidence that Blackburn was interviewed by BBC officials about the complaint, after she was presented with two memos detailing the discussions. Saying that he had been “hung out to dry”, Blackburn denied in evidence that he had ever been interviewed by BBC staff about an episode dating back to 1971 when it was suggested that he had been involved in “seducing” 15-year-old Claire McAlpine after meeting her at a recording of Top of the Pops. McAlpine took her own life a few weeks after the alleged incident. Blackburn said that the allegation that he had been involved with McAlpine was withdrawn at the time.
In a statement on Thursday, Blackburn, the first DJ to broadcast on BBC Radio 1, said: “I have listened to what has been said by Tony Hall and others today in connection with the publication of the Dame Janet Smith report. Asked why the BBC sacked the presenter, Tony Hall said that he believed that Blackburn had not cooperated fully with Smith’s inquiry: “So many survivors and witnesses have honestly and openly cooperated fully and at great personal cost to themselves. As Dame Janet has said, she’s rejected his evidence, and she has explained very clearly why.
“I repeat what I told Dame Janet when I voluntarily gave evidence to assist her and the BBC. What I said in my earlier statement regarding the alleged meetings with Brian Neill QC and Bill Cotton Jr 45 years ago still stands. “I have to take that extremely seriously. My interpretation of that is that Tony Blackburn fell short of the standards of evidence that such an inquiry demanded.”
“Given Dame Janet Smith’s concerns of a culture of fear in coming forward at the BBC, the fact that I have been scapegoated for giving my honest account and best recollections of those events 45 years ago – which I felt was a whitewash – what whistleblower at the BBC would ever come forward when they see the way they have hung me out to dry?” The BBC had said Blackburn had been interviewed about the episode by executives in the early 1970s, but Blackburn insisted that was not the case. He said: “Given Dame Janet Smith’s concerns of a culture of fear in coming forward at the BBC, the fact that I have been scapegoated for giving my honest account and best recollections of those events 45 years ago … what whistleblower at the BBC would ever come forward when they see the way they have hung me out to dry?”
He added: “My lawyers are now considering all statements made by the BBC about me today and we will be taking action.” In an exhaustive report published on Thursday, Smith found that deference towards “untouchable” celebrities such as Savile and Stuart Hall, the former It’s a Knockout presenter jailed in 2013, allowed both men to abuse scores of women and children, some as young as eight and some while actually on air.
Blackburn said on Wednesday he had been sacked and that he was the unnamed celebrity in Smith’s report who was accused of “seducing” 15-year-old Claire McAlpine. Her inquiry, which began in October 2012, found that an increasingly competitive and uncertain working environment meant that BBC employees still feared reporting abuse and taking on the broadcaster’s stars. “The BBC must resist the temptation to treat what happened then as being of limited relevance to today. It clearly is not,” she warned.
McAlpine and her mother accused Blackburn of taking the teenage girl back to his flat after a recording of Top of the Pops. McAlpine took her own life a few weeks after the alleged incident. Blackburn denies the allegation. Tony Hall apologised to the survivors of abuse and promised: “We will learn the lessons from these terrible times.”
Smith was told that Blackburn, who is named in the report only as A7, was interviewed at the time and denied the allegation. However, Blackburn denies he was ever interviewed by the BBC. Having talked to over 800 people and interviewed over 380, the report found “serious failings” at the BBC and heard from 117 people about rumours of Savile’s behaviour. It also identified five missed opportunities when complaints about the abuse of both Savile and Stuart Hall were ignored. However, it ultimately concluded that although the broadcaster could have stopped the abuse and failed to do so, the criminal behaviour was largely the fault of the perpetrators and therefore the BBC was not corporately responsible.
Asked if she believed Blackburn was lying, Smith refused to say. Liz Dux, a lawyer at Slater & Gordon who represents 168 survivors of Jimmy Savile’s abuse, immediately accused the £6.5m report of being an “expensive whitewash”. However, she later told the Guardian that Tony Hall’s response had “relieved” her clients and “went a long way towards accepting corporate responsibility”.
Smith and Hall both said they were making no judgment or accusation about Blackburn’s alleged behaviour. Smith, a former court of appeal judge, told a press conference that the report made “sorry reading” for the BBC. She blamed ongoing police investigations for a year-long delay once the report was essentially finished.
But Hall said the corporation had “parted company” with Blackburn because of his evidence to the inquiry. Although the report said that the worst excesses of a culture it described as “macho” and “sexist” had improved, there was little cause for complacency. “I do not think there is any organisation that can be completely confident that it does not harbour a child abuser,” she said.
Asked why the BBC sacked the DJ, Hall said: “Look, put this in context. This is one of the most important inquiries in the BBC’s history. And that has put an even greater responsibility on everyone who took part in that inquiry to co-operate fully and to be open. However, job insecurity and the culture of “deep reverence” for celebrities had led to special problems. “I was told that an atmosphere of fear still exists today in the BBC possibly because obtaining work in the BBC is highly competitive and many people no longer have the security on an employment contract,” she wrote.
“So many survivors and witnesses have honestly and openly co-operated fully and at great personal cost to themselves. She also found that the corporation had little regard for the children in its care. “The BBC appears to have been much more concerned about its reputation and the possibility of adverse comment in the media than in actually focusing on the need to protect vulnerable young audiences,” she wrote.
“As Dame Janet has said, she’s rejected his evidence, and she has explained very clearly why. As part of its plans for a new “open BBC”, Tony Hall said the corporation would launch a campaign explaining its whistleblowing procedures, and review its policies and procedures on child protection, complaints and investigations. The BBC is working with the NSPCC, and Hall promised a full audit of existing policies to “bring closure to this dark chapter”.
“I have to take that extremely seriously. My interpretation of that is that Tony Blackburn fell short of the standards of evidence that such an inquiry demanded. Dame Esther Rantzen, the former BBC presenter and founder of ChildLine charity, welcomed the “practical” BBC proposals but said that problems continued to exist throughout broadcasting. She spoke of a recent case of sexual harassment at another broadcaster in which a young woman felt she couldn’t complain about the behaviour of so-called “talent”.
“I am making no judgment or accusations about events or behaviours about what happened in the past, but simply about what he’s done now and what he was doing in front of this really crucial inquiry.” The report, which runs to 372,400 words, found evidence of abuse which started in 1959 and did not end until 2006 for Savile, who died in 2011. In total, Savile sexually assaulted 57 girls or women and 15 boys or men. Three incidents of rape and attempted rape took place on BBC premises, Smith said, with the youngest rape victim just 10.
Responding to repeated questioning over Blackburn, Hall added: “I’m quite clear that I am making a judgment about how someone has engaged with this seriously important inquiry. Tony Hall, who called the report into the BBC’s culture “one of the most important in the corporation’s history”, said the stories of abuse detailed in the report were “once read, never forgotten”.
“I am sure that all of us who have been through the 1,000 pages are probably overwhelmed by what we hear about the nature of the seriousness of what they have said and also the cultural response of the BBC. The report found that one complainant was told to “keep your mouth shut; he is a VIP” while talent were “treated with kid gloves and rarely challenged”.
“And that’s why my decision was my decision. I’m taking a position about the standards of behaviour I expect from everyone working at the BBC now.” Among the five missed opportunities identified in the report, two relate to Top of the Pops. The first, in 1969, saw a 15-year-old girl escorted off the premises after telling a production assistant that Savile had unzipped her hot pants and put his hand inside her knickers. In 1976, a girl reporting abuse on camera was told it was “just Jimmy Savile mucking about”.
Blackburn spent 17 years at Radio 1 and also presented Top of the Pops on BBC TV. He was also a weekly fixture on the BBC1 show Noel’s House Party. In 1973, the controller of Radio 1 and Radio 2, Douglas Muggeridge, asked Savile about rumours he had heard but dropped the matter when Savile simply denied them.
He hosted Radio 2’s Pick of the Pops as well as regular bank holiday specials for the stations and has had shows on BBC London 94.9, BBC Radio Berkshire, the Magic network and BBC3CR. In 2002 he won the ITV reality TV programme I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! A related inquiry into Stuart Hall, the former presenter, also concluded that he had abused 21 female victims at the BBC, with the youngest aged 10, between 1967 and 1991, but no complaints were passed on to senior management.
In Smith’s report, she said: “For the sake of completeness, I should make it clear at this stage that I have not attempted to make any judgment about the allegation involving A7 and Claire McAlpine.
“The question does not fall within my terms of reference. My legitimate interest in this matter relates only to what can be inferred about the BBC’s culture and practices from the way in which the matter was investigated by the BBC.”
Smith’s report also said there had been “serious failings” at the BBC that allowed Savile and Stuart Hall to sexually abuse nearly 100 people without detection for decades.
It found that despite what had happened with Savile and Hall in previous years, those who worked at the BBC were still worried about reporting potential abuse and taking on the broadcaster’s stars.
Earlier, Blackburn had tweeted his thanks to those he said had offered him support.Earlier, Blackburn had tweeted his thanks to those he said had offered him support.
Good morning,I just want to say thanks so much for your overwhelming support it means a lot to me. xxx
I won’t be tweeting too much but I must say a big thanks for all the support from my fellow broadcasters, it is very kind of you.
The Kent radio station KMFM said it was standing by Blackburn, who hosts a weekly show.The Kent radio station KMFM said it was standing by Blackburn, who hosts a weekly show.
“KMFM will be supporting Tony Blackburn fully and will be continuing his broadcast contract,” said a spokesman for the station. “His show will air as normal this Sunday between 4pm and 7pm on our stations. He is a great asset, a fantastic broadcaster and someone we are proud to work with.”“KMFM will be supporting Tony Blackburn fully and will be continuing his broadcast contract,” said a spokesman for the station. “His show will air as normal this Sunday between 4pm and 7pm on our stations. He is a great asset, a fantastic broadcaster and someone we are proud to work with.”
Smith report findingsSmith report findings