In order to stop Lord Patten hiding behind legal threats yesterday, Guido did not publish part of the Pollard tape that the Chairman of the BBC Trust claimed was libellous and had used to threaten Tory MP Rob Wilson. It was separate to Pollard admitting that he made mistakes and that his report was flawed.

With no excuse, the plan worked and the BBC Trust were forced to comment just ten months after the flaws in the Pollard Review were first highlighted. The allegation that Mark Thompson ‘lied’ was run by the Telegraph this morning and will make for interesting reading in New York over breakfast.

The fact that evidence that from Helen Boaden, in direct contrast to Thompson’s, was not in included in the final Pollard Review allowed the former BBC boss to take up his job as the Chief Executive of the New York Times. He had supposedly been fully cleared and vindicated. Just two months later, the man who had cleared him was agreeing with journalists that Thompson was a liar:

Journalist: I also think it’s a fascinating insight that the instinct of Thompson according to Boaden’s version which you’ve just told me was to lie about this. That tells you a lot about the man.
Nick Pollard: Yes. Well…yeah…
Journalist: I was always told you don’t lie.
Nick Pollard: I think that’s right. There’s no doubt he painted himself into a corner.

Grey faces at the Grey Lady today.