Thompson: BBC knew of payoffs
The former BBC director-general Mark Thompson has hit back at claims by the BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten, insisting the corporation was aware of the scale of hefty pay-offs made to former executives.
Patten suggests ex-BBC boss has questions to answer
BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten seemed to suggest that former director-general Mark Thompson should be called to give evidence when questioned by MPs today.
Asked why he did not know some payoffs had gone beyond what was contractually needed, he told the committee: "If you call a previous director general of the BBC I will be as interested as you are why we didn't know."
Speaking about Mr Thompson's eventual successor George Entwistle, who stood down after a few weeks in the job, Lord Patten said his payoff of £450,000 was necessary to prevent a potentially larger bill if they had got bogged down in legal argument.
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BBC executives contradict each other in pay-off row
Former BBC director-general Mark Thompson has hit back in the row over bumper pay-offs to senior staff.
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BBC bosses admit 'shock' over scale of payoffs to staff
Four BBC bosses admitted that the corporation had 'lost the plot' after a damning report revealed the scale of payoffs to former staff.