That we did address it is evidenced by the internal memo leaked before the interview itself was even announced.Our colleagues at BBC Scotland took additional measures of their own to ensure that all four party leaders in Scotland were given a chance on BBC1 to air campaign issues in a 40-minute programme the night after the Prime Minister's interview was to have been broadcast there. No newspaper or broadcaster would turn down such an opportunity.Far from being oblivious to "the Scottish problem", it was the only serious reservation we had to consider before agreeing that the interview would take place. These are questions which the whole country needs to see addressed to the Prime Minister, at the earliest opportunity. It was to be our first chance since the general election to interview him for 40 minutes about the Euro rebels and the months of party squabbling over Europe; about the public uproar over the money paid to bosses of privatised industries; about people's fears for the health service and for the standard of education, and more besides. The interview was available on the eve of John Major's trip to Washington, at a time of another slump in Anglo-American relations. Our task is to decide whether the time suits us, and in this case, that was an unusually difficult decision.We decided on the interview before Jonathan Aitken made his speech against the BBC.
Naturally they will try to choose a time that suits them best. Sometimes they say yes readily; sometimes they say no; sometimes they say they will fit it in when they can. No broadcaster can command party leaders to appear on its programmes We can only invite them. Panorama had sought an interview with John Major for some months. It is why ministers, opposition spokesmen and third party representatives appeared frequently across our programmes without reference to the recent campaign in Scotland or, in the next few weeks, in England and Wales.The chance to test a prime minister at length comes but rarely. That is why Tony Blair was on Today last Saturday, with no scheduled "right of reply" from John Major. Throughout the rest of the year the BBC is in the business of discussing, testing and examining political argument Election times should be no different.
All of that means politics, and lots of it.Hardly a month goes by when there isn't an election, or a by-election, being fiercely fought somewhere or other at national, regional or local level. Our national broadcasting of news, views, information and analysis cannot be continually circumscribed beyond what is necessary and proper to balance our coverage of the campaign itself and of campaign issues.Nor should we restrict our reporting simply to marking events. We considered carefully before reaching it. Politics do not come to a halt at local election time Parliament continues, unlike at a general election So does government, and at full tilt Similarly, opposition continues. The affairs of the European Union go on uninterrupted and Britain continues to play her part in the wider world. But I freely confess the decision was one of the more difficult programming ones of recent years. Therefore, the Panorama programme at the heart of the debate should not be transmitted.
We believed we were right to plan our interview with John Major, even though the Scottish local election campaign was under way. CONTRARY to popular belief, the courts in Scotland have not yet returned a verdict on the BBC: neither "guilty" nor even "not proven". The issue at stake was the extent and nature of the BBC's obligations to impartiality. The courts decided last week that the arguments could not be fully and properly tested before local elections took place in Scotland. Better still, we could tackle the causes of deepening poverty before they translate into rising tension.. The world was unprepared and unwilling to stop genocide in Rwanda, with consequences that the world will have to live with for decades to come We must be ready and willing if there is a next time.
