The BBC was reeling on Saturday as it suspended all investigations by its flagship current affairs programme Newsnight after a politician was wrongly named on the internet as a paedophile.
The British public broadcaster apologised “unreservedly” late on Friday for having aired a Newsnight investigation alleging that a senior Conservative Party figure repeatedly abused a teenage resident of a children’s home in the 1970s.
Although the BBC did not identify the politician in last week’s report, former Conservative treasurer Alistair McAlpine was widely named on social networking sites as the alleged perpetrator.
He publicly denied the claims on Friday – and hours later his accuser Steve Messham, a former resident of the Bryn Estyn children’s home in Wales, said McAlpine was not his abuser and had been a victim of mistaken identity.
“Mr Messham has tonight made a statement that makes clear he wrongly identified his abuser and has apologised,” the BBC said in a statement.
“We also apologise unreservedly for having broadcast this report.”