§ Mr. Brothertonasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will take steps to ensure that industrial action by the National Union of Journalists does not interfere with broadcasts by the BBC external service to the Soviet Union and Afghanistan.
§ Mr. Ridley: The relationship of Her Majesty's Government to the BBC external services is governed by the licence 102W and agreement which forms part of the BBC charter. Under this, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's powers are limited to prescribing, after consultation with the corporation, the number of hours broadcast, the languages in which programmes are transmitted, and certain other services such as monitoring.
The management of the BBC external services, like the contents of the programmes, is solely a matter for the BBC. I understand that the programmes in Russian and Farsi which the BBC instituted in the new year, at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, although varied in content, continue to be transmitted at the same hours.