BBC boss Lord Patten says 'ex-executive Entwistle was paid double to go quietly'
London, Nov 13 (ANI)
The chairman of the BBC Trust Lord Patten has admitted that the firm gave its former director-general George Entwistle a payoff worth twice as much as he was entitled to, so he would go quietly.
Entwistle, who stood downlast week after just 54 days in the job, left the corporation with a 450,000 pounds lump sum on top of his 877,000 pounds pension.
The payment amounts to 8,333 pounds for every day he spent as director-general, the Telegraph reports.
He quit after Newsnight was forced to issue an "unreserved" apology to Lord McAlpine after it broadcast a report that wrongly accused a senior Conservative of being a paedophile.
According to the paper, Lord Patten defended the decision to give Entwistle a full year's pay even though he was entitled to only half under the terms of his contract.
He said the payment helped ensure that there were no "long drawn-out discussions" and that he would step down quickly.