10 November 2012 Last updated at 14:26 ET

BBC Newsnight: MPs urge speedy BBC response

John Whittingdale: "There's been a failure of management at every level"

The BBC has been urged by MPs to act quickly to restore confidence after a Newsnight report led to an ex-senior Tory being wrongly implicated in child sex abuse at Welsh children's homes.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller spoke of the need to restore "credibility" after the director general said the report should not have been broadcast.

George Entwistle has apologised unreservedly to Lord McAlpine.

He said he was only aware of the story after it was broadcast.

Shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman said there were "systemic problems" over the report.

And the Commons media committee chairman John Whittingdale said the BBC needed "to act very swiftly in order to try to restore some public confidence".

Newsnight reported on 2 November an abuse victim's claims against a leading 1980s Tory politician.

Lord McAlpine, although not named on Newsnight, was wrongly identified on the internet as the alleged abuser at care homes in Wales in the 1980s.

BBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie has been asked to report to the director general by Sunday on what happened with the Newsnight investigation.

The culture secretary said the "BBC Trust needs to get to the bottom, and quickly, of what has gone wrong at the corporation".

Mrs Miller added: "The events of the last few days only serve to underline the vital importance of restoring credibility."

And shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman said "something has gone badly wrong at Newsnight".

She said: "The director general only took over the leadership of the BBC eight weeks ago, but he needs to show decisively that he is addressing the systemic problems which are in evidence here."

'Fundamentally wrong'

Mr Entwistle told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We should not have put out a film that was so fundamentally wrong. What happened here is so totally unacceptable."

"This was a piece of journalism referred to senior figures within News, referred up to the level of the management board and had appropriate attention from the lawyers."

"The question is, in spite of all that, why did it go wrong?"

If necessary, disciplinary action would be taken, he said.

But asked if he should have been aware of it as he is the editor-in-chief, he confirmed he had not known in advance the report was to be broadcast.

'Taking responsibility'

Mr Entwistle's comments came after his appearance before the Commons culture, media and sport select committee saw MPs question his handling of Newsnight's decision not to show a report into alleged sexual abuse surrounding late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile.

The apology statement read out at the start of the programme

The director general is expected to attend a committee session in Parliament, alongside BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten, this month, and chairman Mr Whittingdale said he would consider bringing this forward.

He added: "The director general of the BBC is editor-in-chief. I would have expected a programme making as serious allegations as these to have gone to him for clearance," he said.

He stopped short of calling for Mr Entwistle to stand down but said: "I certainly think somebody needs to take responsibility for this."

Resignation calls

Labour's Ben Bradshaw, a former culture secretary and another member of the committee, told the BBC News Channel Mr Entwistle had to "get a grip".

He said "it certainly feels from the outside that BBC News management is now totally dysfunctional" although he also did not believe Mr Entwistle should stand down.

The Conservative MP Conor Burns, who sits on the culture committee, said Mr Entwistle should "reflect" on his position.

Speaking to Radio 4's PM, he said the current "terrible situation" showed "something very serious has gone wrong in BBC journalism."

He said Mr Entwistle's "rather faltering and uncertain performances on the media... are unlikely to restore confidence".

Tory Rob Wilson, a prominent critic of the BBC over the Savile affair, also said: "I think there are questions for George Entwistle about whether he is the right person to lead the BBC out of the difficulty and the crisis it finds itself in."

Meanwhile, the trustees of Bureau of Investigative Journalism organisation, a co-contributor on the Newsnight story into the Wales abuse with Newsnight, says it was "appalled at what appears to be a breach of its standards".

Steve Messham: "I was absolutely mortified, I really did feel for the man"

In a statement they said: "During its first three years, the Bureau has won a number of major awards for its journalism and built a reputation for quality and the avoidance of sensationalism....

"To the extent that the principles of The Bureau have been ignored by an involvement in this story, remedial action will be taken against those responsible."

The BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, said "this is a deeply troubling episode".

"The Trust notes the BBC Executive's apology and would like to offer its own apology also. The Trust has impressed upon the DG the need to get to the bottom of this as a matter of the utmost urgency and will expect appropriate action to be taken as quickly as possible."

Earlier, Lord McAlpine said the claims were "wholly false and seriously defamatory".

The abuse victim, Steve Messham, apologised to the former Tory treasurer during Margaret Thatcher's leadership, after saying he did not assault him. Mr Messham said in the 1990s he was shown a photograph by police of his alleged abuser but was incorrectly told it was Lord McAlpine.

His solicitor, Andrew Reid, said the peer will take legal action against those who later named and linked him to the false allegations.

The BBC has ordered an "immediate pause" in Newsnight investigations to assess editorial robustness and a suspension of all co-productions with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Source : bbc[dot]co[dot]uk