George Entwistle, who resigned on Saturday, November 10, from BBC as Director-General after just two months in the position, said in a statement that he is stepping down to take responsibility for what happened during the Newsnight broadcast on November 2, which aired an inaccurate interview segment with Steve Messham, an abuse victim who said a senior political figure of the time had abused him.

The BBC later issued an apology for having broadcast the report. It said: “We broadcast Mr Messham’s claim but did not identify the individual concerned. Mr Messham has tonight made a statement that makes clear he wrongly identified his abuser and has apologised.”

Messham’s claims led to former senior Tory Lord McAlpine being wrongly implicated in a child abuse scandal centering on a Welsh care home.

In light of the events, BBC will immediately pause all Newsnight investigations to assess editorial robustness and supervision; as well as suspend all co-productions with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism across the network.

Director of music and audio Tim Davie has been appointed the Acting Director-General in the wake of Entwistle’s resignation.