FORMER BBC director-general Lord Hall has resigned as chairman of the National Gallery saying continuing in the role “would be a distraction to an institution I care deeply about”.
It comes as the corporation is facing intense pressure after the damning report by Lord Dyson found it covered up the “deceitful behaviour” of journalist Martin Bashir. Hall had conducted a botched investigation into Bashir's conduct.
In a statement, Lord Hall said: “I have today resigned as chair of the National Gallery.
“I have always had a strong sense of public service and it is clear my continuing in the role would be a distraction to an institution I care deeply about.
“As I said two days ago, I am very sorry for the events of 25 years ago and I believe leadership means taking responsibility."
READ MORE: This is why the Diana interview scandal also affects BBC Scotland
Meanwhile Julian Knight, the chairman of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said there was a need to strengthen editorial policy at the BBC, with less “kowtowing” to the “talent”.
He said the corporation should look at the way it treated insiders such as graphic designer Matt Wiessler who tried to expose Bashir’s methods.
Wiessler complained he had been sidelined after he raised concerns that fake bank statements he mocked up for Bashir had been used by the journalist to persuade Diana to do the Panorama interview in 1995.
Knight said Wiessler clearly believed he had been badly treated and that BBC director-general Tim Davie should now meet him to hear directly what he had to say.
READ MORE: Trust in BBC 'has eroded' in wake of Diana interview scandal
“He is clearly very emotional, he feels this has probably impaired his life to a certain degree,” Knight told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
“I think the BBC needs to have a real open mind in terms of the possibility of compensation but also how it interacts with people like Mr Wiessler who clearly have faced quite profound consequences due to this fiasco.”
Amid the continuing fallout from the Dyson report, Knight suggested Lord Hall would have to consider stepping back from public life.
Yesterday former BBC executive Tim Suter, who was part of the 1996 internal investigation, stepped down from his board role with media watchdog Ofcom.
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