The veteran Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman has said that BBC director-general George Entwistle was "brought low by cowards and incompetents".

In a ferocious attack on the BBC's managers, he said that the corporation, scared by the Hutton Inquiry, had appointed "biddable people", cutting programme budgets and "bloating the management".

He added that he was sad to see Entwistle leave "[w]hile time-servers prosper".

The statement was tweeted by Paxman's agent, Capel & Land:

Statement from Jeremy Paxman - "GeorgeEntwistle’s departure is a great shame. He has been brought low by cowards and incompetents.. tbc — Capel & Land (@CapelLand) November 10, 2012

"The real problem here is the BBC’s decision, in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry, toplay safe by appointing biddable people... tbc — Capel & Land (@CapelLand) November 10, 2012

"They then compounded the problem by enforcing a series of cuts on programme budgets, while bloating the management... tbc — Capel & Land (@CapelLand) November 10, 2012

"That is how you arrive at the current mess on Newsnight. I very much doubt the problem is unique to that programme... tbc — Capel & Land (@CapelLand) November 10, 2012

I had hoped that George might stay to sort this out.It is a great pity that a talented man has been sacrificed... tbc — Capel & Land (@CapelLand) November 10, 2012