I should have sacked John Birt, admits Hussey

Marmaduke Hussey has launched a scathing personal attack on the former BBC director general John Birt, declaring he would have liked to have sacked him.

Lord Hussey, 77, the BBC's longest-serving chairman who appointed the crossbench peer, said: "I wouldn't have reappointed him if I'd had the chance. I would have got rid of him." In his memoirs Chance Governs All, published next month by Macmillan, he criticises Lord Birt for being unable to relate to colleagues or take criticism.

"John Birt, I was to discover, was very clever and very hard working, but had very poor judgement. The problem with John is that while he is an excellent guided missile, on autopilot he is just as likely to hit his own troops as the enemy," he writes.

Lord Hussey retired in April 1996 amid reports of a growing rift, which was highlighted by Lord Birt's failure to inform him in advance of the Princess of Wales's interview on the Panorama programme. Lord Hussey's wife, Lady Susan, was the Queen's lady-in-waiting and is godmother to Prince William.

Lord Birt, 56, an adviser to the Prime Minister, is no stranger to criticism, or even outright loathing, after his reforms at the BBC. But this is the first time Lord Hussey has spoken so candidly and cuttingly about him. "He did a lot to the BBC which needed doing. Sad though, that his talent was wasted. He totally failed to take the BBC with him. Good at programming, but I chose a man who did not have the two prime skills of managing and getting on with staff."

Asked if he thought Lord Birt was a "successful arse-licker", he replied: "Oh yes, and it's done him very well."

Discussing his latest appointment he said: "Birt and [Tony] Blair continued to keep in touch, And one of John's faults is that he gets on well with people by agreeing with what they say." Lord Hussey said Lord Birt's decision to denounce some of his senior news presenters was "stupid", criticised him for a lack of tact, and commented on his failure to give anybody else credit when it came to outlining his vision of the BBC to governors. He was, he said, a "man utterly unable to relate to his colleagues and take any criticism".

Lord Hussey, who hired Lord Birt from London Weekend Television in 1987 to reform the news and current affairs services, admitted he had completely misjudged him. "He talked a very good talk," he said.

In his memoirs – serialised in The Sunday Times – he described Lord Birt as "dogmatic and difficult" and suggested that, while he had some fine qualities, "admitting others may be right was not among them".