Jimmy Savile scandal: culture secretary keeps up pressure on BBC The row between the government and the BBC over its handling of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal has escalated, with the culture secretary saying it was right to "reflect the deep level of concern" about the crisis enveloping the corporation. Maria Miller made her remarks on Wednesday morning as Conservative backbench MP Sir Roger Gale raised the stakes by saying director general George Entwistle, who is barely a month into his new role, and BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten may have to "fall on their swords." Miller refused to back down in the face of criticism from the Patten, who on Tuesday responded to an earlier statement from the culture secretary by warning her against questioning the independence of the BBC. It was right the government reflect the deep level of concern. What is important now is the inquiries are already working, looking at these allegations and can continue to do so and get to the bottom of these problems," Miller told BBC News. On Tuesday Miller wrote to Patten to warn the scandal had raised "very real concerns" about public trust in the corporation and said it was vital that the independent inquiries into what had happened were "able to follow the evidence wherever it takes them." Patten responded by effectively telling Miller to back off. "I know that you will not want to give any impression that you are questioning the independence of the BBC," he wrote in a letter. Miller's initial letter to Patten on Tuesday reflected government concern over what was felt to be Entwistle's less than reassuring appearance before the Commons culture, media and sport select committee earlier in the day, during which he was questioned about the BBC's handling of the Savile scandal. Gale and criticised Patten for telling Miller that she should not get involved and said he was out of touch with the strength of feeling and concern among the public and MPs about the Savile case. Attack may be the best form of defence but in seeking to criticise a culture secretary who has not, ever, sought to challenge the independence of the BBC, he indicates how very little, within that corporate arrogance, has really changed. The 'Auntie knows best' line simply does not wash any more," he said. "BBC management, over far too many years, has sought to maintain an imperious disdain for criticism and it has become clear that successive directors general have, while happy to criticise others for not answering difficult questions, either turned a blind eye to criminal activities or have not known what has been going on on their own doorstep, which is also culpable," Gale added. It is as if your favourite and respectable aunt has been revealed to be on the game and if Lord Patten is not able to grasp that, then I fear that not only the director general but also the chairman of the BBC Trust are going to have to fall on their swords. Gale, MP for Thanet North, told Kent News that Entwistle and Newsnight editor Peter Rippon were being "hung out to dry" and called for questions to be asked of his predecessors, Mark Thompson, Greg Dyke and Lord Birt. "George Entwistle, as the current director general, has been hung out to dry while having very little responsibility for these matters and the Newsnight editor, Peter Rippon, would appear to be the fall-guy for years of BBC self-preservation," he said. Who is seriously challenging those earlier editors-in-chief, John Birt, Greg Dyke and, most particularly the man who was in the hot seat when the Newsnight decision was taken, Mark Thompson? "Thompson was paid nearly a quarter of a million pounds of licence fee money a year to, apparently, not know what was going on under his own roof," said Gale. The select committee which grilled Entwistle on the Savile scandal on Tuesday considered summoning Rippon and the BBC News director, Helen Boaden, but after a vote, a majority decided against. John Whittingdale, Conservative MP and committee chairman, said: "We are not going to call Helen Boaden or Peter Rippon. We are not conducting an inquiry. Boaden has come under fire for not alerting Entwistle, at the time BBC Vision director with responsibility for a planned BBC1 tribute to Savile, or Thompson last December that Newsnight was working on an investigation that would have exposed one of its biggest stars as a paedophile. Sir Christopher Bland, a former chairman of the BBC, described Savile as a "male Mother Teresa" and said it was easy to understand why his numerous victims were too frightened to come forward. But he admitted that even if they had, it was very likely their complaints would not have been listened to "20 years ago, 30 years ago, or 10 years ago ...." Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said he believed the public's trust in the broadcaster had been damaged. "Plainly, it has been damaged, but the BBC is a resilient and powerful, and on the whole, a really strong and trustworthy organisation, trusted far more than almost any other part of British public life," he added.