§ Q3. Mr. Bryanasked the Prime Minister how many representations by Ministers in their Ministerial capacity were made to the British Broadcasting Corporation during the summer recess about the content of current affairs programmes.
§ The Prime MinisterNone, Sir. The only official representations have related to the practice concerning Ministerial broadcasts.
§ Mr. BryanWould not the right hon. Gentleman, on reflection, add to his figure of nought the occasion on which he misused his position as Prime Minister to browbeat B.B.C. personnel at the Labour Party Conference at Brighton on the contents of a programme covering that conference?
§ The Prime MinisterThere was no browbeating and the hon. Gentleman should base his allegations on facts, not on everything he reads in certain Conservative newspapers. The answer to this Question relates to action taken in a Ministerial capacity, not to studio conversations. But I will say this, since the hon. Gentleman has raised this question. My information, and it is very well-founded, is that, both during the period of office of the party opposite and since, the amount of pressure put on, both by the late Government and the Conservative Party since, has exceeded the number of complaints which we have made, several times over, not least during the period of time when the Leader of the House was also the Chairman of the Conservative Party.
§ Mr. LubbockIf the Ministers have made no representations to the broadcasting authorities in their Ministerial capacities, will the Prime Minister at least confirm that the Paymaster-General did make representations to the British Broadcasting Corporation in respect of 873 the programme "Target 70", concerning the National Plan, and that he insisted that the Chief Secretary should appear only on condition that he would not enter into any discussions with representatives of another party.
§ The Prime MinisterSo far as the Ministerial broadcasts are concerned, it is certainly the case that we have made representations, and I have said this in my Answer today. It is clear that there has been a change of practice in very recent times. The Conservative Government had over 90 Ministerial broadcasts, with almost no right of reply. So far as the present period is concerned, the occasion of a Ministerial broadcast, or quasi-Ministerial broadcast, now gives the Conservatives a party political broadcast in reply.
§ Mr. HeathIs the Prime Minister aware that the figure which he has just quoted, of over 90 Ministerial broadcasts, is a completely bogus figure, as far as television is concerned? By far the greater majority of those broadcasts, over 13 years, were on sound. They were concerned with subjects such as, "Post Early for Christmas" and civil defence. The number on television during this period was very small indeed. As far as I can find, they were in the nature of 12 or 13, so that there has been no change of practice over this period.
§ The Prime MinisterThis Question did not say television only. It referred to current affairs programmes, and the figure I gave related to Ministerial broadcasts. These figures included two Ministerial broadcasts on the Tory Rent Act of 1957, with no right of reply. I hope that the right hon. Gentleman does not consider that that was uncontroversial. They also included broadcasts on the question of the defence policy of the then Government. The defence policy, a highly controversial subject, was defended, and there was no reply.
§ Mr. HeathIs the Prime Minister aware that under the aide-mémoire of 1947, which governs all these broadcasts, the Opposition are always entitled to claim a right of reply to a Ministerial broadcast? If they can show the B.B.C., where the decision lies, that it is controversial, they get the right of reply. The reason why there was not a reply to the 874 rent broadcast was because it was not a controversial subject. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Am I correct in thinking that the Government are going to make a Ministerial broadcast on Friday on its own Rent Act? Will there be a right of reply to that?
§ The Prime MinisterWhen the right hon. Gentleman correctly reads out the agreement, as he did just now, he does not cover the point that we were refused a right of reply on so controversial a subject as the breakdown of his Common Market negotiations. That shows how the rules were administered until the change of Government. Since the change of Government, when he asked for a broadcast on the National Plan, the right of reply was conceded to the Opposition before the broadcast, before anyone knew whether it was controversial. The result of this was to give the Tories a highly party political broadcast, whereas when they were in office they often used Ministerial broadcasts also for controversial subjects.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Even the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition must learn to put shorter supplementaries.