The BBC is to make all of its of 16,500 broadcasting staff attend mandatory ethical training courses entitled “safeguarding trust”. The decision comes after an internal review revealed it had repeatedly falsified on-air competitions, not least during some of its most high-profile charity appeals.

In a humiliating admission, Mark Thompson, director-general, announced that he was halting all future competitions across its output as he gave details of six examples of producers deceiving audiences over on-air competitions.