Blair versus BBC

Lord Hutton has finally produced his report.  It served its purpose: an inquiry tangentially related to the war has been conducted, and the Blair government is exonerated. The only problem is that the whole thing was set up as a distraction from the start.

The Hutton inquiry is a setup for the pending charter renewal of the BBC.  The Blair government would like to use the occasion to limit the freedom of maneuver that the worlds pre-eminent broadcast organization enjoys.  We all have a stake in this, since the scope of discussion allowed in the US media will never be broader, and will generally be narrower, than that allowed in Britain.

Here is a letter that I wrote to PM, a program on BBC Radio 4, today:

[begin text]

Is it not obvious that the entire Hutton exercise was an elaborate diversion from the central questions raised by the war against Iraq? Britain goes to war on the basis of claims that a poor third-world country poses an imminent danger.  Thousands of lives are lost. The claims prove false, but no inquiry is launched.  No minister resigns; no apology is heard.  Instead, the government lies in wait for a distraction, and at last is rewarded for its patience by Andrew Gilligan and the unfortunate Dr. Kelly.  The BBC is pilloried, and the government that made the war breathes easier.

The BBC must now be saved from the suffocating embrace of government control.  The BBC has been more than amply punished for any misdemeanors.  Gilligan is discredited, and Gavyn-Davies is gone. Nothing further is required.  The BBC lives on its reputation, and it has ample incentive to keep its house in order.  Does anyone believe that the reputation or reliability of the BBC will be enhanced if its independence is destroyed?

[end of letter]

The BBC will be airing excerpts of letters it receives in the next few days. You can write to

[e-mail]

or go to www.bbc.co.uk.