The BBC current affairs program "Newsnight" on Friday night aired allegations that a senior Conservative politician from the Margaret Thatcher era had sexually abused boys in the 1970s and 1990s as part of a scandal involving children's homes in North Wales.

But the BBC stopped short of naming the politician, bringing a torrent of tweets criticizing its report.

Earlier Friday, The Telegraph newspaper reported that  former Newsnight presenter Michael Crick tweeted: "'Senior political figure' due to be accused tonight by BBC of being paedophile denies allegations + tells me he'll issue libel writ agst BBC."

A subsequent tweet read: "The senior political figure due to be accused paedophile activity by BBC tonight tells me that he still hasn't heard from them for response."

In a later post on its website, the BBC said the allegations arose from a scandal alleging child sexual abuse at children's homes in North Wales in the 1970s and 1980s that started coming to light in the early 1990s. The allegations led to investigations and a government-ordered inquiry, the 2000 Waterhouse Tribunal.

In the Newsnight segment, a man said he had been repeatedly abused by the politician in the late 1970s. Steve Messham claimed that he had been abused "more than a dozen times" and that when he finally went to the police, "I was called a liar." He called for a new investigation. 

Newsnight said a man claiming that he also had been abused by the politician had been interviewed for BBC radio in 2000. Newsnight said it had not been able to find the man for its report, but it provided an unusual dramatization of the man's radio interview.

According to the dramatization, the man said he had gone to North Wales police but had been told there wasn't enough evidence.

British comic Freddie Starr arrested in Savile abuse case

On Thursday, British police arrested comedian Freddie Starr as part of an investigation triggered by allegations that the late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile sexually abused hundreds of children, according to media reports.

The allegations have shaken Britain's state-funded broadcaster, with hundreds of people now coming forward to report abuse dating back over several decades by Savile, a household name in Britain.

Lawyers representing some of the victims have said their clients indicated an organized pedophile ring involving celebrities existed at the BBC during the height of Savile's fame in the 1970s and 1980s.

'A steep fall' for BBC as child sex abuse scandal rocks the UK

On Sunday, police arrested glam rock singer and convicted sex offender Gary Glitter, born Paul Gadd, as part of the Savile investigation. He was released on bail.

BBC Director General George Entwistle and his predecessor, Mark Thompson, incoming chief executive officer of the New York Times Co., have come under heavy criticism for their handling of suspicions about Savile.

A BBC investigation into Savile was dropped last year, when Thompson was at the helm. It took a rival network, ITV, to uncover the scandal. Thompson has said he did not know about the program's investigation and had no involvement in the decision to axe the report.

It’s still not clear why the well-regarded show "Newsnight" dropped the investigation, and there is no suggestion that either Thompson or Entwistle were involved in a cover up. But, on top of the BBC’s failure to stop Savile, its shelving of his investigation has shocked the UK. The BBC’s journalism is fiercely independent; its own journalists have done much to make the Savile story headline news, but many of the questions are about the competency of BBC's management rather than individual reporters and producers.

NBC's Keir Simmons and Reuters contributed to this report.

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R. Poplowski / Getty Images

Jimmy Savile in 1973.

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LONDON -- The child sex abuse scandal engulfing Britain’s public broadcaster, the BBC, has been producing disturbing headlines in the UK for almost a month, and the signs are this is just the beginning. Since the scandal broke, 300 victims have told police that they were abused by BBC TV host Jimmy Savile, suggesting this number may yet rise.

Savile hosted TV shows, worked for charities and was even awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II. More than just a TV personality, he was a national institution. He was perhaps Britain’s answer to Dick Clark, hosting the UK’s equivalent of “American Bandstand,” the very British sounding “Top of the Pops.”

Savile died last year, but it is another institution, the one he worked for, that has become as much the focus of this scandal. The BBC says new allegations have been made against nine current BBC staff or contributors since the revelations about Savile. Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament: "These allegations do leave many institutions, perhaps particularly the BBC, with serious questions to answer."

It is difficult to exaggerate how fundamental the BBC is to British culture. It has the highest-rated radio stations. It runs one of the biggest TV channels. Its Web pages are the most-read. Its news is the most trusted. The BBC even has its own "sound" – a kind of posh, but not too posh, monotone adopted by all newsreaders. British children grow up with it.

Jimmy Savile abuse scandal stuns Britain: a who's who primer

Now, it is accused of turning its back while children were allegedly abused on its premises by a BBC star and others. One BBC show, “Jim’ll Fix It,” even invited children to write in and ask to be on TV. The access to legal minors has prompted comparisons to Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. It’s a scandal that is raising questions about the cult of celebrity and about how large prestigious institutions can offer pedophiles a place to hide.

One seemingly inexplicable aspect of what happened is that so many people now appear to have been aware that it was happening. In interviews, Savile was asked about whether he was a pedophile and denied it. Comedians told jokes about it. Yet for decades no one did anything to stop it. Perhaps all this is not just about the British Broadcasting Corporation but about British culture itself.

BBC ripped for handling of sex abuse scandal tied to former host

The BBC’s journalistic culture is also being questioned. The former director-general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, is soon to be chief executive of the New York Times. Under his leadership, and that of new BBC director-general George Entwistle, a BBC investigation into Savile was dropped last year. It took a rival network, ITV, to uncover the scandal.

It’s still not clear why the well-regarded show “Newsnight” dropped the investigation, and there is no suggestion that either Thompson or Entwistle were involved in a cover up. But, on top of the BBC’s failure to stop Savile, its shelving of his investigation has shocked the UK. The BBC’s journalism is fiercely independent; its own journalists have done much to make the Savile story headline news, but many of the questions are about the competency of BBC's management rather than individual reporters and producers.

The alleged abuse happened many years ago, in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. And the BBC is not the only organization involved. For example, Savile was allowed into children’s hospital wards. The police were asked to investigate on a number of occasions but failed to bring charges. What makes the allegations all the more disturbing to many Britons is that the BBC is funded through a tax paid by every British family with a television.

The BBC has faced serious crises before. In 2003, it was investigated after a controversial broadcast about the Iraq war that led to the suicide of a leading scientist. The public inquiry was so critical it lead to the resignation of the BBC’s then director-general. Ten years on, the BBC is still thriving. But it’s hard to imagine a more toxic claim than the allegation that the British Broadcasting Corporation allowed children to be abused by its employees. As another famous British bastion of journalism, The Economist, puts it this week, “From the height of so much esteem, it is a steep fall.”

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