Lord Patten warns Tory MP over Savile scandal evidence Lord Patten is in danger of showing contempt for the House of Commons and this country's elected representatives. As an unelected public official in what should be an important job, he is dangerously out of touch. Nick Pollard, the former head of Sky News, last year lead an independent inquiry into the BBC's decision to drop a Newsnight investigation into allegations of sex abuse by Savile. Mr Pollard's final report found that while the decision was "flawed," it was not driven by a desire to avoid a clash with tribute programmes. However, it did not include testimony from Helen Boaden, the BBC's former Head of News. She alleged that Mark Thompson, the corporation's former director-general, was aware of the content of the Newsnight investigation. Despite her testimony Mr Pollard's inquiry found that there was "no evidence to doubt" Mr Thompson's version of events. In the audio recording obtained by Mr Wilson, Mr Pollard reportedly privately admits that he was wrong to overlook Miss Boaden's evidence. Lord Patten has written to Mr Wilson to say that the corporation "is taking this matter seriously" and wants to "obtain Nick Pollard's side of the story." He says he would question whether it is in the "public interest" to make publish the audio recording before the BBC Trust has completed its investigations. He adds: "Obviously, it is for you to decide what course of action to adopt. I hope you will give due consideration to the points made in this letter No doubt you have recognised the potentially defamatory nature of the recording's contents, and will be weighing up the legal liabilities that might arise if you were to publish the recording to the world at large. A spokeswoman for Mr Pollard said: "The remarks attributed to Mr Pollard appear to be an interpretation of a private conversation some months ago. It is inappropriate for any reliance to be placed on the interpretation of an informal conversation which contained a lot of speculation on both sides. The Pollard Review stands by all the conclusions in its report. The report disclosed that BBC executives were warned that Jimmy Savile had a "darker side" but pressed on regardless with tribute programmes to the child abuser. Two years ago George Entwistle, the former director-general, was told by one manager that he was "queasy" about the "real truth" of Savile's past. Then, after Savile's death in October last year, Mr Entwistle, Danny Cohen, the Controller of BBC One, and a third executive were given a further warning, which went unheeded. Mr Pollard described the warnings as a "missed opportunity" to avoid the scandal which later engulfed the BBC.