HC Deb 21 July 1971 vol 821 cc1448-9
36. Mr. Evelyn King

asked the Lord President of the Council by what authority he required the British Broadcasting Corporation to take action in respect of an allegedly libellous statement made on Radio 4 on 28th June affecting the character of one of Her Majesty's Ministers ; and what was the nature of the action requested and taken.

Mr. Whitelaw

I acted in the capacity to which I have just referred in my answer to the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Mr. David Clark). I forwarded to the Director-General of the B.B.C., with my support, a letter which I received from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment concerning the nature of the programme and the particular remarks about my right hon. Friend.

Mr. King

Did my right hon. Friend notice that in two successive weeks there was first the use of trickery to the detriment of the Labour Party, and then in the following week slander to the detriment of a Conservative Minister? Would he accept that the House should not be divided about this matter and should resent the one as much as the other? Would he further accept that there seems to be some evidence that the governors of the B.B.C. are suffering from some kind of collective swollen head?

Mr. Whitelaw

It would be unfortunate if I were to follow my hon. Friend in all that he said. These are difficult matters. I should not like to comment on them one way or the other. In the particular case to which the Question referred, all I did was to send a letter from my right hon. Friend, which referred far more to the nature of the programme and whether a person who, in the position of the man who appeared, should have been on the programme than to the particulai remarks about him himself. The B.B.C. decided to apologise to my right hon. Friend ; that is its affair and not a matter for me.

Mr. Hugh Jenkins

As the right hon. Gentleman chose to intervene in this case, does not that mean that if he had so chosen he could have intervened in a similar manner over the programme "Yesterday's Men"? Why did he not choose to do so in that case?

Mr. Whitelaw

It does not quite follow. I should like to make it perfectly clear that I would not wish to make any comment one way or the other. I realise the feelings that have been expressed on this matter. The last thing I would wish to take up is any party political position on this matter. [HON. MEMBERS : "Oh!"] I think that would probably be accepted by a very large number of hon. Members of the House. All I would say is that my responsibility within the Government is simply with the Government's liaison with the mass media. Matters referred to by the hon. Gentleman are matters between the Opposition and the B.B.C. and are for them and not for me.