BBC halts "Newsnight" investigations - FT.com The BBC has suspended all investigations by Newsnight after its flagship news programme reported false claims linking accusations of paedophilia to a senior Conservative politician. The news plunged the broadcaster into a second crisis over the programme's editorial decision-making, weeks after its decision not to air an investigation into sex abuse allegations against Jimmy Savile, the BBC presenter who died last year. George Entwistle, the BBC's new director-general, apologised "unreservedly" on Friday for a November 2 report into a tribunal which had investigated claims of sexual abuse at a children's care home in Wrexham, Wales, in the 1970s and 1980s. The report had carried an interview with Steve Messham, an abuse victim who said he had been abused by someone Newsnight did not name, but described as a "leading politician of the Thatcher years." Lord McAlpine, a Conservative former party treasurer, issued a statement on Thursday, saying a "media frenzy" caused by internet rumours linking his name to the allegations had prompted him to make clear that they were "wholly false and seriously defamatory." Solicitors to Lord McAlpine said they were in the process of preparing writs and would take legal action "against all media who have defamed Lord McAlpine's reputation and published defamatory statements." The BBC said on Friday: "Mr Messham has tonight made a statement that makes clear he wrongly identified his abuser and has apologised." Mr McAlpine said he had every sympathy for Mr Messham and other victims of abuse but had been to Wrexham only once and had never visited a children's home there. Mr Entwistle sent in "a senior news executive" to supervise Friday evening's edition of Newsnight, which featured an on-air apology. Ken MacQuarrie, director of BBC Scotland, was appointed to write "an urgent report" on the Newsnight investigation for Mr Entwistle. "There will be an immediate pause in all Newsnight investigations to assess editorial robustness and supervision," the BBC said. It also announced an immediate suspension of all BBC co-productions with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Peter Rippon, the Newsnight editor who decided not to run the Savile investigation, stepped aside after his decision came to light. Members of parliament have accused Mr Entwistle of a "lack of curiosity" for failing to find out more about the allegations Newsnight unearthed against Savile. David Cameron has ordered two investigations into an alleged paedophile ring connected to children's homes in north Wales during the 1970s and 1980s.