COLUMN: It's not sacrosanct but the BBC must not be damaged
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Stone's Throw by Jamie Stone
To make best use of my driving time as I was heading to Inverness airport in the wee small hours this week, I put the car radio on and hit Radio 4.
At that time of the day, Radio 4 goes straight to the BBC World Service, and here’s the point of this column. I’m bound to say that the World Service was scrupulously fair in its coverage of the war in Ukraine.
While some more hawk-like listeners might have wished for a more bloodthirsty, flag-waving form of coverage, it occurred to me that this is the great strength of the BBC World Service – its fairness. Therefore, it is the envy of the world. Wherever you are on the globe, you’re likely to get a pretty honest and truthful account of world events.
I have been in discussion as to the government’s future intentions for the BBC – and for that matter Channel 4 too. Thus far, the sounds from Boris Johnson’s Cabinet are not encouraging. I find it deeply worrying that an awful lot of MPs on that side of the House seem to have it in for these two organisations.
Here are two recent examples of a different form of telly that I think matters to us all in a more local sense.
First, the recent documentary Rigs of Nigg, the telling of the story that affected many lives in the Highlands; the story of when the oil came and so many of us, myself included, opted to stay, work locally and bring up families accordingly.
The coming of the oil in the 1970s was a key factor in halting the depopulation of the Highlands. It is a magnificent story and this documentary told it brilliantly well.
My second example is Charles Kennedy: A Good Man Speaking. Again, it was a story brilliantly well told, curiously enough produced by the daughter of an old Tain Royal Academy school friend.
Both these productions were created by the BBC, albeit in a more local guise. However, most interestingly, the local origin did not prevent a UK wide recognition of the sheer quality of this kind of production. People from all over, from Devon, to Essex, to Belfast, to Inverness recognised their excellence and commented accordingly.
So the purpose of this column is as a reminder of something that is precious. The suggestion that the BBC should be changed or damaged would have appalled my late parents. They both came through World War II, my father in India and Burma and my mother through the London Blitz, and they told me how important the BBC had been to British morale, whether you were in the tropical jungles of Asia or sheltering from Hitler’s bombs in London.
Nothing is absolute in life and no institution should be protected from modification. However, we should recognise and value some things that our country does very well indeed. I shall not hesitate to make these points about the BBC, and indeed other British media organisations such as Channel 4, as the government starts to reveal its intentions for these institutions.
I know that I am not alone in feeling so strongly about this matter. I also know that many other politicians in other parties are of the same opinion. It is crucial that we work together during the months ahead to protect something that is important and in the best interests of our country.”
Jamie Stone is the MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
