UK public feel BBC was hard done by - poll

With the BBC reeling from the resignations of its chairman and director general in the space of two days, an opinion poll today suggested the UK public feel the corporation was hard done by in the Hutton Report.

Fewer than one in four people quizzed for The Guardian felt Gavyn Davies and Greg Dyke needed to resign after Lord Hutton’s scathing condemnation of the BBC’s editorial and managerial standards on Wednesday.

And three times as many said they had faith in the BBC as in the UK government.

Meanwhile, a separate poll for The Times found that – despite his exoneration by Lord Hutton – 36% looked on British Prime Minister Tony Blair less favourably as a result of the David Kelly affair, compared to 34% whose opinion of the BBC had gone down.

Following the BBC’s “unreserved” apology for its reports on the government’s handling of intelligence on Iraqi weapons, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was time to “draw a line” under the David Kelly affair.

But the outgoing director general, whose departure was greeted by protests and walkouts by BBC staff, indicated that he may not be ready to let matters lie.

“I’m not going to talk about Hutton now, but I will at some stage,” said Mr Dyke. “And I don’t necessarily accept the findings of Lord Hutton.”

He appeared to question the decision of the BBC’s board to issue an apology just minutes after he had left the building, saying: “I couldn’t quite work out what they have apologised for.”

Former World Service chief John Tusa suggested Dyke and Davies may cause difficulties for the UK government now they are no longer responsible to the BBC.

“Gavyn Davies and Greg Dyke are dangerous people now that they have left,” he told BBC2’s Newsnight.

“If I were the government, I would say this is an argument which is not going to go away, because the two most dangerous men involved are out there and they have got an argument to make.”

Mr Dyke said he had expected the governors to ask him to stay on when he tendered his resignation on Wednesday night.

“I felt I had to offer my resignation,” he told The Times. “I put it to the board and they did not try to dissuade me. I don’t want to go, but if in the end you screw up, you have to go.”

He received more than 1,000 e-mails from BBC staff urging him to stay on, he said.

Britain's Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell last night signalled that the government would not seek to use the upcoming review of the BBC’s charter to punish the corporation.

In a sign that the UK government wanted to rebuild bridges with the BBC, she hailed it as “the best broadcaster in the world” and promised it would emerge from the review an independent organisation that would be “nobody’s lapdog”.

While the BBC’s governance would be on the agenda of the 10-yearly review, Lord Hutton’s findings would not determine the outcome, she said.

“Hutton looked at one issue,” she said. “Charter Review is a far bigger canvas.

“Once we have reviewed the current Charter the end result will be a strong BBC, independent of government. A BBC that will still be the best broadcaster in the world.

“And a BBC that is nobody’s lapdog. That challenges government and raises debate. That is in all our interests.”

Lord Hutton’s report into the death of Dr Kelly was deeply critical of the BBC, branding its editorial processes “defective” and saying its governors were wrong to defend reporter Andrew Gilligan after he made “unfounded” claims that the government had sexed up its weapons dossier.

Ministers were cleared of “underhand” behaviour in the naming of Dr Kelly as Mr Gilligan’s secret source and Lord Hutton found they had not embellished the dossier with information they knew to be unreliable.

But today’s Guardian poll found that 31% of those questioned had faith in the BBC, compared to just 10% who had faith in ministers. Some 49% said they trusted neither side.

Almost half of those questioned – 45% – said they thought Mr Blair lied about sanctioning a leak of Dr Kelly’s name, compared with 38% who said he told the truth.

Mr Davies’ resignation was backed by 38% and the departure of Mr Dyke by 35%. Some 41% said UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon should resign, 37% Mr Blair and 49% Mr Gilligan.

While 49% said the BBC had treated Dr Kelly unfairly, 60% said the UK government had done so.

Lord Hutton’s review, which was widely seen in Westminster as a vindication of the British prime minister, did not appear to have given him an immediate boost in the polls.

His personal rating slipped from minus 15 points last week to minus 17.

Just over a third – 38% – were satisfied with the way Mr Blair is doing the job but a majority – 55% – were dissatisfied.

Opinion on war in Iraq was almost equally divided, with 47% telling The Guardian it was justified and 46% saying it was not. The Times poll produced similar figures, with 43% in favour and 45% against the war.

:: ICM questioned 532 adults on January 28 for British broadsheet The Guardian. Populus interviewed 500 on January 28 and 29 for The Times.