There should be no further resignations at the BBC in the wake of the Hutton report, its former director-general, Mr Greg Dyke, said this morning.
He also branded British Prime Minister Tony Blair's former spin doctor Mr Alastair Campbell's reaction to Lord Hutton's findings as "ungracious".
Mr Dyke, who resigned from his post yesterday in the wake of Lord Hutton's condemnation of the BBC, said he believed the corporation was not the only one that made mistakes.
"I think Alastair [Campbell] and others have been remarkably ungracious," he told GMTV.
"We were all at the BBC, 20 of us who got [the Hutton report] the day before, we were all absolutely shocked . . . that it was so black and white. . . . We knew mistakes had been made by us but we didn't believe they were only by us," Mr Dyke said.
Asked if there should be more resignations within the BBC, Mr Dyke said: "No. Part of the reason I went is to stop it going any further. . . . Andrew Gilligan is an employee of the BBC and as such we have a duty of care to him."
He then suggested the Ministry of Defence had not shown the same level of care for Dr David Kelly, whose suicide led to the inquiry.
"I know that again Hutton cleared them, but go talk to anybody who's sat through the inquiry, go read any of the evidence, if that's showing a proper duty of care, then I'm glad I don't work there."
Asked whether he quit voluntarily or whether he was pushed, Mr Dyke said: "I offered my resignation to the governors and they accepted it." He said, however, that he did not want to leave the post.
His decision to quit sparked protests and walkouts by BBC workers, with staff sending more than 1,000 e-mails urging him to stay.
Asked whether the report was fair on the BBC, he said: "I think today isn't the day for me to say what I think about the Hutton report.
Following the resignations of both Mr Dyke and chairman Mr Gavyn Davies, an opinion poll today suggested the public feel Hutton was unfair to the BBC.
Fewer than one in four respondents to the poll in The Guardiannewspaper felt Mr Davies and Mr Dyke needed to resign.
And the BBC was seen as more trustworthy that the government.
Meanwhile, a separate poll for The Timesfound that - despite his exoneration by Lord Hutton - 36 per cent looked on Prime Minister Tony Blair less favourably as a result of the Kelly affair, compared with 34 per cent whose opinion of the BBC had gone down.
PA