§ 2.45 p.m.
§ Lord Peyton of Yeovilasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish the reports by the Lord Birt to the Prime Minister on transport, crime, and on other matters on which he has given advice.
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonMy Lords, the noble Lord. Lord Birt, has worked on a number of Strategy Unit projects. His advice has been reflected in a number of Strategy Unit reports.
§ Lord Peyton of YeovilMy Lords, I do not think that I could have expected a better answer from the noble Lord. However, is he aware that the invitations occasioned more than a whiff of surprise for two reasons? The first is that it was not generally known that the noble Lord, Lord Birt, possessed any particular knowledge of either crime or transport. The second is that the Prime Minister's invitation surely indicated a really serious lack of confidence in his colleagues and their Civil Service advisers.
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonMy Lords, I do not agree with the noble Lord's second observation. Far from it being the case, I am sure that the Prime Minister has great confidence in the team that he has assembled around him. It does a very good job. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Birt, provides very valuable information to the Prime Minister and other Ministers, and that his role in that regard is no different from that of other specialist and unpaid advisers appointed by previous governments.
§ Lord Taylor of BlackburnMy Lords. is it not a fact that many of us, from all parts of the Chamber, give advice to the Prime Minister? The question is whether the Prime Minister takes note. I am constantly giving him advice, but he does not take any notice of it.
§ Lord Taylor of BlackburnIs that not the true position?
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonMy Lords, the noble Lord will be reassured if I say that I am sure that the Prime Minister takes very careful account of what he says.
§ Lord McNallyMy Lords, all parts of the House would consider missing advice from the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, as an opportunity missed. However, is there not a more serious matter here? The noble Lord, Lord Birt, was supposedly going to give "blue-sky thinking" advice to the Prime Minister. There is now very clear evidence that he is interfering directly in matters before Cabinet and Parliament; I refer to the charter of the BBC. What guarantee do we have that the new BBC charter will not be drawn up on that famous Downing 1211 Street sofa—so roundly condemned by the noble Lord, Lord Butler—by the noble Lord, Lord Birt, Mr Alastair Campbell, who is now hack in 10 Downing Street, and other unpaid and unaccountable advisers who have no responsibility to either Parliament or Cabinet?
There is a constitutional issue about which, if I were any self-respecting Minister in the Cabinet, I would be extremely worried. This Parliament should be worried about it, too.
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonMy Lords, I am not sure that there was a question among the noble Lord's observations—and observations they were. They were observations based in the main, I can only comment, on idle press speculation. I am not prepared to respond to that.
§ Lord BarnettMy Lords, I declare an interest as a former vice-chairman of the BBC who had some responsibility for appointing the noble Lord, Lord Birt, as director-general.
§ Lord BarnettMy Lords, may I ask my noble friend to suggest to the noble Lord that it might be in his own best interests and the national interest if his reports were published? If they are not, we get only the media version, and the media do not seem to like him.
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonMy Lords, I rather suspect that we ought to approach that last observation with some delicacy. We should not always seek to follow the media's agenda. As to the noble Lord's point about published reports, the noble Lord, Lord Birt, obviously provides blue-sky thinking, advice and support to the Prime Minister and a number of other Ministers, and works very closely with the Strategy Unit in No. 10. The majority of its reports are published documents and in the public domain; they make a valuable contribution to policy thinking and public debate.