By NBC News staff and wire servicesThe BBC current affairs program "Newsnight" on Friday night aired allegations that a senior Conservative politician from the Margaret Thatcher era had intercourseually abused boys in the 1970s and 1990s as part of a scandal involving children's homes in North Wales.
Follow @NBCNewsWorld (http://twitter.com/NBCNewsWorld) But the BBC stopped short of naming the politician, bringing a torrent of tweets criticizing its report (https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%40bbcnewsnight).
Earlier Friday, The Telegraph newspaper reported that (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/9651321/Senior-political-figure-threatens-to-sue-BBC-over-paedophile-claims.html) former Newsnight presenter Michael Crick tweeted (https://twitter.com/MichaelLCrick/status/264352884320260096): "'Senior political figure' due to be accused tonight by BBC of being paedophile denies allegations + tells me he'll issue libel writ agst BBC."
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