"If it was a white-wash why did the senior echelon of the BBC immediately resign after the report was issued?"

Basically because the BBC's charter is up for renewal pretty soon from the Government, so in the circumstances they've got to try to butter the bastards up.

And sure enough, the Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has now come out with a statement to reassure the BBC about its future funding." A quid pro quo, if ever there was one.

Polls in the UK papers today indicate that, given a choice, three people trust the BBC, for everyone who trusts the Government. I'd have thought that is a poll finding which rather flatters the Government.