§ Q6. Mr. Wyattasked the Prime Minister what representations he has received advocating legislation to establish a Broadcasting Council on the lines of the Press Council.
§ The Prime MinisterIn addition to a letter from my hon. Friend proposing a Broadcasting Council, I have received a number of suggestions from other hon. Friends, for example for a Royal Commission on Broadcasting and the Press, and for a Select Committee on Broadcasting.
§ Mr. WyattIs my right hon. Friend aware that those admirable persons Lord Aylestone and Lord Hill both feel obliged to defend the actions of their employees and subordinates whenever there is a complaint about bias and that it would be a great deal better if matters 578 of this kind were left to an impartial body like a broadcasting council when there is public disquiet over, for example, recent reporting in Nigeria and, I gather, sometimes in the Tory Party, so that the directors or controllers of the I.T.A. and the B.B.C. are not judges in their own cases but are subject to the normal course of impartial justice?
§ The Prime MinisterMy hon. Friend is stating the position in a slightly false way when he refers to those who are responsible for programmes as employees of the noble Lords, Lord Aylestone and Lord Hill. In general, they are the employees of the Managing Director of the B.B.C. and of the programme companies. It is surely the function of the Governors of the B.B.C. to consider questions of alleged bias and the general propriety of broadcasts. Their duties are not set out in any Statute. In the case of the I.T.A. it is the statutory duty of the authority to deal with all such questions with regard to the programme companies. I do not think that it is easy to devise a better system for handling these matters, though there will be individual complaints, and I rather share my hon. Friend's view of the distorted reporting about Nigeria. However, that was not confined to the broadcasting authorities. Therefore, it is best left to the Governors, but there will have to be a Royal Commission very soon for the B.B.C. because of the need to renew its charter in the middle 1970's.
§ Sir Ian Orr-EwingWill the Prime Minister look more sympathetically at the suggestion that such a council should inquire into how it was that he has appeared on television three times in the last 10 days and into which one of the eight information officers in the Cabinet Office bullied the B.B.C. into allowing the right hon. Gentleman to appear on a sportsman's programme?
§ The Prime MinisterIn fact, if the hon. Gentleman takes the figures for 1969, the Leader of the Opposition appeared on more feature programmes of this kind than I did—
§ Sir D. GloverHe is a sportsman. The Prime Minister: I am talking about all feature programmes in 1969—[Interruption.] I do not know what hon. Gentlemen below the Gangway are 579 muttering about. No doubt they will attempt to put supplementary questions. In that period, I did not refuse to attend any programme. The right hon. Gentleman had more programmes, and that has persisted this year. As for the sports programme, there was certainly no bullying as far as we were concerned. I do not know what the right hon. Member for Bexley (Mr. Heath) did in January —
§ Sir D. GloverHe won a race.
§ The Prime MinisterNo doubt the B.B.C., in considering these matters, decided that the right hon. Gentleman in January surrounded himself with a much better crew than he usually does in this House, and felt that, since I have a better record of crew selection over five years, perhaps it would be as well if I appeared on the programme, too.
§ Mr. C. PannellWhen my right hon. Friend is considering representations of this kind, will he consider representing to the B.B.C. and the that there is a certain abhorrence throughout the country about the prospective over-saturation of the World Cup on both channels? Will my right hon. Friend reflect upon the thought that 'this might even blot out the General Election?
§ The Prime MinisterI have certainly enjoyed television programmes as well as the live actuality of recent football matches, although we were all very sad about last night.
On the point made by my right hon. Friend, I think that any representative public opinion poll would—[Interruption.] I was satisfied with Huddersfield's performance. I think that any representative public opinion poll would show more support for what my right hon. Friend said among the ladies rather than among the gentlemen of this country. There is a point here—[Interruption.] I think that the ladies are less keen on seeing it—football—on both channels. We all like to see the right hon. and learned Member for St. Marylebone (Mr. Hogg) on both channels; but that comes under entertainment, not sport.
I think that these are matters best left to the judgment of the B.B.C. Governors and the Independent Television Authority, noting what I think are the growing protests about the fact that it is nice to 580 have another programme, even to those of us who are keen to watch football.
§ Mr. ThorpeIf it is not out of order to return to the Question which was posed, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman to give this matter serious consideration? The exchange of questions this afternoon has, on the one hand, been critical of the B.B.C. for its Nigerian broadcasting and, on the other, of the suggestion that the Prime Minister has been too sporting on the box. I speak with no axe having yet been ground in either connection. But, as broadcasting authorities are increasingly attacked by politicians on both sides of the House—it is suggested they are either an extension of the Monday Club or part of the Tribune Group in action—would it not be fair if there was an independent commission to which these complaints could be made, if only to protect the impartiality of both networks?
§ The Prime MinisterAs I have said, think that this is for the Governors, in the case of the B.B.C., if there is a serious complaint to be made, and for the I.T.A. The difference is that the I.T.A. has a Statute and the Governors of the B.B.C. have to proceed, in a more general sense, without a Statute. It is a matter for consideration, when there is a Royal Commission, which there will have to be, on the B.B.C.'s charter renewal, whether it should have duties laid out as clearly as this House has laid them out in respect of Independent Television. At the end of the day, it cannot be done entirely by Statute, but by the judgment of impartial people. On the whole, the membership of the Governors and of the Authority carries fairly general support in this country for impartiality and balance.