MPs accuse BBC bosses over scandal

Deputy director-general Mark Byford and chief operating officer Caroline Thomson were asked to explain how viewers came to be deceived in a string of shows including Children In Need and Comic Relief.

They were accused of "fighting a rearguard action" and of being "dangerously out of touch" with the way BBC programmes are made. MPs also questioned why licence fee money should be spent putting BBC staff through a training programme telling them "not to lie".

Appearing before the Commons media select committee, Mr Byford described the deceptions as totally unacceptable and said honesty lay at the heart of the relationship between the BBC and its viewers. He pledged to restore public confidence in the Corporation.

Mr Byford said he was stunned by the six deceptions revealed last week, a scandal which began when Blue Peter was found to have faked a competition winner.

But he admitted: "We can't be 100% certain that we have captured everything. Some investigations are still going on. We may well get other cases. I hope obviously that we don't, but I wouldn't rule it out. I can confirm in no uncertain terms they will be judged to be absolutely grave and in a context where we won't tolerate it."

The BBC is also investigating why staff did not come forward to reveal the six deceptions as soon as the Blue Peter fakery was made public in March. Three senior editorial staff have been suspended, Mr Byford revealed. But he dodged questions about whether he and director-general Mark Thompson should resign over the furore.

MP Philip Davies asked him: "What would it take for you and Mark Thompson to decide your position is no longer tenable?" My Byford replied: "I think our position was made perfectly clear by the BBC Trust. They judged rightly this is very serious and that our task is to make it clear to every member of staff that works for the BBC that we won't tolerate it. That is on our shoulders."

The BBC is to make 16,500 staff undertake a training programme entitled Safeguarding Trust. MP Phil Davies asked: "Is funding a training programme to tell your staff not to lie and cheat viewers a good use of licence fee payers' money? Perhaps you need to look at your recruitment process if you have to train them on such fundamentals as not lying or cheating?"

But Mr Byford insisted the training programme was a good idea.