Ex-BBC director general says the BBC Trust would be better off without its "busted flush" chairman
Lord Patten, the current chairman of the BBC Trust, has been labelled a “busted flush” by former BBC director general Greg Dyke, who criticised his handing of the Jimmy Savile scandal and George Entwistle's swift departure.
"The BBC has a problem in the sense it's got a busted flush as chairman. I am surprised [Patten] is still there. It would probably help if he wasn't," he said candidly.
He added that Patten has been severely damaged by his handling of the Jimmy Savile scandal and for the £450,000 payout he signed off to George Entwistle, who served as director general for just 54 days.
In the interview with The Guardian, Dyke also predicted that the BBC Trust would be axed and the corporation would be brought under the control of Ofcom.
Commenting on the body, Dyke, who was director general between 2000 and 2004, said: "It was a disaster waiting to happen and it happened. No one is quite certain who reports to who and who is in charge, and that has to be sorted.
"It seems to me almost certain that the regulation of the BBC will go to Ofcom, and the BBC will have a board with one person who is chairman, working alongside the director general. It will be light-touch regulation, like it is with Channel 4.
"It's time for those of us who really care about the BBC and who can get a mouthpiece to stand up and say what we value about the BBC."
He continued: "The BBC is very good at regrouping and sustaining itself. In the end it has the support of the country and it always has had. That's why Thatcher never took on the BBC – because it has the support of middle England."
A spokesperson for the BBC Trust declined to comment to The Guardian, saying that it has heard “these types of comments from Greg Dyke before.”