Tory peer Lord McAlpine has spoken of his “shock” after a BBC Newsnight report led to him being wrongly implicated in child abuse allegations. The former Conservative party treasurer told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One he should have been contacted beforehand.He also said the BBC had left him with a “legacy” that “can’t be repaired”.Some of those involved in deciding to run the report on care homes in north Wales face disciplinary measures.Media watchdog Ofcom has confirmed it is investigating both Newsnight and ITV’s This Morning programme over the allegations.ITV said “appropriate disciplinary action” had been taken after a presenter inadvertently broadcast a list of names of alleged child abusers taken from the internet. Although former Conservative party treasurer Lord McAlpine was not named by Newsnight, the report led to a flood of accusations about him online.The BBC, which has apologised “unreservedly” for the report, said it hoped to reach a “settlement” of the matter on Thursday.Lord McAlpine said he had been “in a state of shock” after hearing of the allegations.“I was in southern Italy. I don’t have television, I don’t get newspapers, we don’t have the internet. To suddenly find I was mixed up in all this, and I didn’t know what Newsnight was going to say, it really was a horrendous shock.He added the BBC “should have called me” and he would have told them “that it was complete rubbish”.
