Andrew Gilligan has said the BBC would never have given him the freedom to publish the string of stories about Ken Livingstone’s record as London mayor that he wrote for the Evening Standard.
According to BBC staff magazine Ariel, Gilligan told the BBC audio and music festival: “BBC management would have wet themselves and back-pedalled on the story.”
The claim was denied by BBC director of editorial policy David Jordan, who replied: “The idea that we would run away is a figment of Andrew’s imagination.”
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