BBC: Dyson Report

Viscount Colville of Culross Excerpts

Tuesday 25th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My noble friend’s first question falls into the area of editorial independence, although I share the very real concerns he raises. On the forgery of the bank statements, as my right honourable friend the Minister for Media and Data set out, my understanding is that a request has gone to the Metropolitan Police to examine the evidence and reach a judgment on it.

[Viscount Colville of Culross (CB) [V]]

I welcome the Government’s review of the BBC’s governance. However, contrary to the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton, I was concerned this morning that the director-general of the BBC said he had no intention of airing the Princess Diana interview ever again. I understand, given the shocking circumstances under which Martin Bashir obtained the interview, why he said that; however, the interview is a seminal part of the understanding of the history of this country in the 1990s. Does the Minister agree that to prohibit future airings of the interview is to censor our history and limit freedom of expression?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I can only repeat what I said earlier, which is that that appears to me to sit as an editorial decision for the BBC.