A "senior political figure" is to be outed as a paedophile on Newsnight on Friday, according to the editor of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Iain Overton announced the revelation via Twitter.
He posted: "If all goes well we've got a Newsnight out tonight about a very senior political figure who is a paedophile."
Following the tweet, speculation has been rife over who the corporation’s flagship news programme is set to accuse.
Following news of the ‘outing’, Channel 4’s political correspondent Michael Crick, formerly of the BBC, said he had spoken to the man who is to be accused, who denies the charge. Crick also revealed that the accused would sue for libel should the BBC broadcast the programme.
According to Crick, the man at the centre of the Newsnight story has not been contacted by the BBC for comment.
The revelation comes in the wake of a turbulent time for the BBC following broadcast of the ITV documentary that revealed Jimmy Savile had sexually abused children over decades while working for the BBC.
Newsnight was due to run an expose on Savile last year but it was pulled from the schedule, leading to the BBC’s Director General being forced to answer questions in front of a select committee over the BBC's decision not to run the programme.
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