A ‘senior political figure’ may be outed as a paedophile on a BBC programme tonight.

The investigation about the unnamed man, who is alive and could be an MP or an advisor, may be shown on Newsnight.

It was revealed by the editor of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Iain Overton, in a post on Twitter.

New claims of sexual harassment against serving BBC staff emerged today in the corporation’s inquiry into the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal.

The names of people now under investigation for misconduct or assault were forwarded to BBC bosses in the past few days.

They are in addition to the nine employees that the BBC’s director general George Entwistle announced were being investigated last week.

All the newly named individuals are staff members or contributors and are accused of sexual misconduct from the Seventies onwards.

A BBC spokeswoman said: “All new allegations are passed to the BBC investigations unit or to the police as appropriate.”

News of the latest accusations emerged as comedian Freddie Starr was bailed this morning after being arrested by detectives investigating claims that he attempted to grope a schoolgirl in Savile’s BBC dressing room.

The comedian, 69, was taken into custody at a police station near his home in Warwickshire before being released in the early hours of this morning.

Starr left his home around lunchtime today to assist police at Leamington Spa police station with further inquiries.

The comedian hid under a pile of clothes in the back of a car driven by his wife.

He strongly denies claims by Karin Ward that he tried to grope her in 1974 when she was 14. Today, police were guarding the gates of Starr’s house in the village of Mappleborough Green, near Studley, with two uniformed officers preventing anyone from approaching the property.

The questioning of Starr follows the arrest of former pop star Gary Glitter on Sunday.

He was questioned at a central London police station after being detained at his London home. He was later bailed.

Detectives investigating allegations of abuse by Savile and others have said they had drawn up a list of potential suspects and more arrests are expected over the next few days.

Savile is believed to have been one of the UK’s most prolific sex abusers, with about 300 possible victims. Detectives are understood to be following more than 400 lines of inquiry, while the BBC has launched an inquiry into the culture and practices at the corporation in the era of Savile’s alleged sexual abuse.

An independent inquiry is also being held into the dropping last December of a Newsnight investigation into claims about Savile. Mr Entwistle and other executives will be questioned by a barrister and be entitled to legal representation.

The inquiry, led by Nick Pollard, the former head of Sky News, is due to publish its findings this month.