Indignant BBC staff defended their ex-boss on Saturday and there were renewed demands for an inquiry into Britain's case for war in Iraq as the fallout from an explosive report showed no sign of abating.
Dismayed by judge Lord Hutton's strong censure of the BBC and near-total exoneration of the government over the suicide of Iraq weapons expert David Kelly, hundreds of BBC employees paid for a full-page newspaper ad to vent their feelings.
"Greg Dyke stood for brave, independent and rigorous BBC journalism that was fearless in its search for the truth," they said of the BBC's former director general who resigned a day after Wednesday's Hutton report.
In a remarkable implosion at one of the world's best-known media, BBC chairman of the board of governors Gavyn Davies also stepped down on Wednesday and the investigative reporter at the centre of the storm, Andrew Gilligan, resigned on Friday. "We are resolute that the BBC should not step back from its determination to investigate the facts in pursuit of the truth," added the BBC staff, some of whom walked out in protest at offices across the country on Thursday.
Gilligan's broadcast last year claimed Prime Minister Tony Blair's government had "sexed up" the threat from former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in an intelligence dossier.
Government scientist Kelly was the anonymous source for Gilligan's story and committed suicide when his name came out.
The BBC accepted Gilligan's report had errors.
But many were shocked by the severity of Hutton's criticism of the BBC, versus his lightness with the government. Critics say Blair officials' involvement in the outing of Kelly was papered over, while the underlying question of Blair's case for war was ignored.
"If Lord Hutton had fairly considered the evidence he heard, he would have concluded that most of my story was right. The government did sex up the dossier, transforming possibilities and probabilities into certainties, removing vital caveats," Gilligan said in his resignation statement.
"Some of my story was wrong...But the BBC collectively has been the victim of a grave injustice." Such suspicions are likely to dog Blair for some time despite his survival of a week that some had predicted might be his last in office.
Apart from the Hutton report, Blair faced a key parliamentary vote on his education policy which he survived by just five votes.
Polls show the pressure is still on. The latest from pollster YouGov said 44 percent still thought Blair was not telling the truth when he denied authorising the leaking of Kelly's name, versus 40 percent who believed him.
Fifty-nine percent were dissatisfied with Blair as prime minister, while 61 percent thought the government had not been trustworthy, the poll published in the Daily Telegraph said".
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