Entwistle said €560,000 payoff ‘not enough’

The BBC Trust chairman insisted he had to give former director general George Entwistle a huge payoff when he quit in the wake of paedophilia scandals engulfing the corporation — and hinted that Entwistle wanted even more money.

Chris Patten told legislators that the £450,000 (€560,000) given to Entwistle after 54 days in the job was “one hell of a lot of money”, but there was no better option on the table.

The BBC has been battered by claims Jimmy Savile — one of its biggest stars — was among Britain’s most prolific sex offenders, as well as a television report wrongly accusing a politician of paedophilia.

There were sour exchanges as Patten was grilled by parliament’s culture, media, and sport committee.

Patten said Entwistle had agreed to resign on Nov 10 only if he received a pay-off of 12 months’ salary, plus fringe benefits such as medical coverage.

Patten said the payoff was less than Entwistle had tried to negotiate, but refused to say how much he asked for.

However, he hinted that lawyers advised him Entwistle would have been awarded the equivalent of €656,000 by an employment tribunal if he was sacked and won a case for unfair dismissal.

The chairman insisted that Entwistle was “a decent man who was overwhelmed by a very difficult job” and said he would not join in the “general trashing” of his name. “He doesn’t deserve to be bullied or have his character demolished.

“What’s happened is a small tragedy which has been made rather larger by money.”

At one point in the crisis, Entwistle had asked Patten “are you urging me to go?” and got the reply “we’re not urging you to go but we’re not urging you to stay”, Patten revealed.

He said that the trust did not have grounds to sack Entwistle and therefore had no choice but to accept his terms. He said Entwistle’s salary was much lower than his predecessors’ and the 50-year-old had been some years from retirement.

Furthermore, he said, BBC executives are paid at lower than the market rate.