BBC chief defends impartiality after No 10 meeting

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

Disclosure: We’d never even been to a club when we made our first single

For most of us, reaching eighteen years of age opens up a new world for exploration, spontaneity and...

Sepp Blatter: Penalty shoot-outs must remain, they’re football’s great leveller

As England supporters, we should scorn at any such deciding factor within football. On so many occas...

Why do some men consider the street as a female meat market?

Pronouncements on sexual inequality in the UK are normally met with an eye roll by my generation. As...

Political corruption reflects the widening chasm between the political class and the electorate

The corruption and hypocrisy which has come to characterise politics and politicians, and in particu...

The director general of the BBC today defended the corporation's impartiality after it was disclosed he met a senior government aide in Downing Street to discuss coverage of the Government's spending cuts.





Mark Thompson insisted his meeting did not affect the BBC's "independence or impartiality in any way".



He had meetings "from time to time" with politicians and officials of all parties regarding coverage, and that was the "unremarkable context" in which his meeting with Mr Cameron's strategy chief Steve Hilton should be seen, he said.



He was responding to shadow culture secretary Ben Bradshaw who had called for "clarity and reassurance" after Mr Thompson was photographed arriving at Number 10 holding a memo from his head of news, Helen Boaden.



The memo disclosed she had previously met Downing Street director of communications Andy Coulson for lunch at which he was "concerned" the BBC should give "context" to its coverage of the forthcoming comprehensive spending review.



Mr Bradshaw wrote to Mr Thompson, saying: "Given the systematic assaults on the BBC by the Conservative Party in opposition and their continued attacks on the Corporation in Government, including their threats to the licence fee, I am sure you will agree that it is paramount that you avoid any impression that the BBC's editorial independence may have been compromised."



He said Mr Thompson should consider releasing the briefing papers he was seen holding as he walked into No 10.



In his letter Mr Bradshaw asked who requested the meeting, the BBC or Downing Street.



He asked if similar meetings had taken place with Gordon Brown or his staff and whether there had been other talks between BBC editors and No 10 political staff.



Mr Thompson released his reply to Mr Bradshaw in which he assured the shadow culture secretary: "I'm happy to assure you that nothing about this meeting - the fact of it occurring, its timing or the matters which were discussed - could be construed as compromising the BBC's independence or impartiality in any way."



He went on: "My role as editor-in-chief of the BBC means that from time to time I meet politicians and officials connected with all major parties to discuss our coverage.



"In answer to your question, I have had meetings with the leaders of all the UK's major parties.



"That is the unremarkable context in which yesterday's meeting should be seen.



"It had been arranged some months ago by mutual consent and was not unusual in any respect."

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Is Ridley Scott the most macho man in movies?

Ridley Scott: The most macho man in movies?

His cinematic CV is unparalleled. Yet the Alien director is still obsessed with beating his rivals.
Being Gary Lineker: The clean-cut anchorman is this summer's Mr Sport

Being Gary Lineker

The clean-cut anchorman is this summer's Mr Sport...
Gallic gourmets are putting French cuisine back on the culinary map

Gallic gourmets put France back on culinary map

Overdone, out of touch and old-fashioned: French cuisine has never been at a lower ebb...
So Moorish: Mark Hix offers his own take on classic Moroccan dishes

So Moorish: Mark Hix's Moroccan dishes

Why not create a north African-inspired feast to share with your friends?
Sin and the single mother: The history of lone parenthood

Sin and the single mother

Maureen Paton explores the history of lone parenthood.
The outsider: Margaret Howell is British fashion's queen of minimalism

The outsider: Margaret Howell

The designer tells Susannah Frankel why she has never felt part of the fashion industry.
The 50 Best luggage

The 50 Best luggage

From chic cases to compact baggage, pack it all in this summer
For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Greece

For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos

On a secluded peninsula in north-east Greece lies an enclave that's way off the tourist map, especially for women...
48 Hours In: Faro

48 Hours In: Faro

More than just the gateway to the Algarve, this city has much to tempt you off the beach.
Here, the coast is always clear: Celebrating sixty years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

60 years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

Mick Webb reveals a land of puffins, tanks and Hollywood blockbusters.
Free Range: Meet the designers of tomorrow

Free Range

Meet the artists of the future
Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years