HL Deb 27 June 1972 vol 332 cc792-5

2.40 p.m.

LORD ORR-EWING

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many broadcasts have been made in the last three months on the Overseas Service of the B.B.C. giving the background of the Ulster troubles; and whether they are satisfied that Britain's actions have been adequately explained.

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, the B.B.C. say that almost every news programme in the External Services has a report on Northern Ireland. There have also during the last three months been hundreds of items dealing in varying degrees of detail with the background to events in Ulster. As to the second part of my noble friend's Question, the Government's position is that the programme content of the B.B.C.'s External Services, no less than of its Home Services, are the responsibility of the Governing Board and that a direct answer to that part of my noble friend's Question might therefore seem to be indistinguishable from Government intervention in the B.B.C.'s responsibilities.

LORD ORR-EWING

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that, despite that reply, there is in the Commonwealth, in the United States and among our friends in Western Europe woeful ignorance about the part that Britain is playing in Ulster? Few people realise that 102 of the men in our Defence forces have been brutally murdered; that the total loss of life is 243 in the past three years and that over 7,000 people—the vast majority totally innocent—have needed hospital treatment. In view of these facts, and in view of the tremendous effort and money that has been spent by those who are opposed to Ulster's remaining part of the United Kingdom, ought not the Government to do more to put Britain's cause over to her friends in all parts of the world?

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, of course Her Majesty's Government are aware of the tragic events in Ulster that my noble friend has talked about. Under the B.B.C. Licence and Agreement of 1969 the B.B.C. are required to: send programmes in the External Services to such countries in such languages and at such times as … may … be prescribed … by such Departments of Her Majesty's Government … as may from time to time be specified. Of course Her Majesty's Government want everybody to know the true facts of Ulster; but in the end it is the responsibility of the B.B.C. to decide exactly how their programme content is arranged.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, has not my noble friend run the two parts of the Question together? The first part of the Question is about the B.B.C.; the second part is whether the Government are satisfied that Britain's actions have been adequately explained. There are other methods of doing this than the B.B.C. Would my noble friend care to answer that part of the Question?

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, I am sorry; I thought the second part of my noble friend's Question was tied to the first part; but I will certainly look into what my noble friend has said.

LORD SLATER

My Lords, arising from the supplementary question of the noble Lord, Lord Orr-Ewing, regarding his Question on the Order Paper, is the noble Lord aware that many of us are in deep sympathy with the sentiments he has expressed in this House to-day? On the other hand, would not the Minister agree that we ought to give every form of praise to some of these young men who are going into places such as Ulster and elsewhere throughout the world where hostilities are in operation, for the courage they have shown, and bring to the notice of the people of this country what is really taking place?

LORD DENHAM

Yes, my Lords; I certainly agree with the noble Lord.

LORD INGLEWOOD

My Lords, my noble friend said that it was the responsibility of the B.B.C. to decide exactly how these programmes were in fact put across. Does he really think that it is in British interests that the activities of the two branches of the I.R.A. should be represented so frequently as if they were two football clubs?

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, the difficulty is this. If Her Majesty's Government were to direct the B.B.C. as to programme content it would be regarded as just another propaganda service. As it is, the B.B.C. hold a unique position in the world, being regarded as an independent purveyor of news and current events. To maintain this position it must have freedom. As to the extent to which it exercises that freedom responsibly, it is open to any noble Lord to express a view, either privately to the B.B.C. or in your Lordships' House. But for Her Majesty's Government to express a view, whether it be in agreement with my noble friend or in defence of the B.B.C., would be not so much improper as incompatible with maintaining the B.B.C.'s independence.

LORD LEATHERLAND

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that I do not want to interfere with the freedom of the B.B.C.? But is he also aware that there is such a thing in this age as psychological warfare, and does he realise that we have not taken full advantage of the medium of the B.B.C. and have been outdone in psychological warfare by the I.R.A., right since the beginning of this trouble?

LORD DENHAM

Yes, my Lords; I am aware of all these things, but I must refer the noble Lord to my immediately previous answer.

LORD ARDWICK

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that those of us who are familiar with the World Service of the B.B.C., and in particular with some of their broadcasts on Northern Ireland, have no doubt whatsoever that the B.B.C. have pursued a very proper course in all this and in the mere reporting of events, which they have done at great length? There has been, broadly speaking, a bipartisan attitude on this issue in this Parliament, but the British case has been put over objectively, correctly and fairly.

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, for the reasons which I have explained, I can no more comment on that question than I can on the previous questions I have been asked.

LORD ORR-EWING

My Lords, will my noble friend agree, in view of the bipartisan approach to this subject in the House, that although these Overseas Services may have given frequent and impartial accounts, the British case still has not got across to our friends in all parts of the world, and anything the Government can do in this direction would be acceptable? But I am not asking them to control the programmes of the B.B.C.: this was not behind the Question I asked.

LORD DENHAM

My Lords, I am most grateful to my noble friend. May I say just this to him? I think his Question in the House to-day, and everything that has been said from all parts of this House, will be very carefully studied by the B.B.C.