Following the resignation of Greg Dyke, Director General of the BBC, Michael
Fabricant, a senior member of the Commons Culture, Media and Sports Select
Committee and a former broadcaster, warned of a "climate of fear" developing
in the BBC.

Michael said: "Greg Dyke today may have done the honourable thing by
resigning, but this is bad news for broadcasting in this country.

"Firstly, the BBC needs someone of the calibre of Greg Dyke at the helm and
he will be difficult to replace. But secondly, I believe that a climate of
fear may now exist within the BBC and if journalists feel themselves to be
intimidated, this will not only damage the integrity of the BBC but also set
back freedom of speech in our country.

"While no one would condone the events surrounding Andrew Gilligan, tens of
thousands of hours of broadcasting on the BBC TV and radio channels are
transmitted each week. If news output were now to lose its independence and
freedom to investigate politicians, then it will not be the Government that
has won. It will be the British people who have lost."