It’s possible that I am the last BBC observer on the planet prepared to shed a few tears at the resignation of Tim Davie as Director-General of the BBC. Yes, I know that important heads had to roll over the Trump-edit disgrace and, God knows, I demanded enough rolling heads in my 33 years on the Today programme. But I’ve always had a soft spot for Tim.
On the morning he became DG, one of the first things he did was summon me to his office and demand (rather flatteringly, I thought) that I give him three pieces of advice. So I did.
First: ‘Your interview on PM yesterday was a shambles. In future, do some prep.’
Second: ‘You’re a public figure now. Stop dressing like a teenager. No more scruffy trainers.’
Third (and here I pointed through his glass wall to the next-door office, which housed a very senior executive): ‘Get rid of him.’
He listened politely and said, ‘Yes to your first. No to your second – I’m not dressing like a bureaucrat. As for your third ... too late. I’ve already sacked him!’
Hard not to warm to a boss like that, eh? And, anyway, I had already been held responsible for the resignation of another DG. As Oscar Wilde
almost put it, ‘To lose one DG may be regarded as misfortune. To lose two looks like carelessness.’
My earlier victim was Tim’s immediate predecessor, George Entwistle. He was forced to resign in 2012 as DG a couple of hours after I had given him what was described as a ‘roasting’ on Today.
My criticism was levelled at his reaction – or, rather, failure to react – when Newsnight falsely accused an eminent Tory, Lord McAlpine, of being involved in a child-abuse scandal.
Under my not particularly tough questioning, George had to admit he’d been asleep at the wheel. In fact, he hadn’t even switched on the telly – even though there had been warnings aplenty that McAlpine was in Newsnight’s sights.
The BBC Chairman called an emergency meeting of the board that Saturday morning – and that was that. George had to go.
Not so for Tim Davie. The new Chairman, Samir Shah, said he had the ‘unswerving and unanimous support’ of Shah and the board.
It wasn’t the first time Tim had considered resigning. The Glastonbury crisis was another. The BBC had broadcast a duo (wittily known as Bob Vylan) leading a chant of ‘Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]’. Viewers could watch the Vylan vitriol via a live stream on BBC iPlayer. Davie wanted to resign, but was talked out of it.
One DG who resigned when he should not have was Greg Dyke – forced out in 2004 by the Hutton Report into the massive crisis that resulted from an interview I did with the Today Defence Correspondent, Andrew Gilligan.
And, yes, I know there’s a pattern developing here, but I did not set out to get DGs fired. Honest.
Not even Gilligan could have imagined the fallout when he told me the British scientist Dr David Kelly believed the Government had ‘sexed up’ its dossier on Iraq’s so-called weapons of mass destruction. At the height of the crisis, Kelly killed himself.
Tony Blair eventually ordered a public inquiry, chaired by Lord Hutton. On the afternoon Hutton was to announce his verdict, the enormous newsroom in TV
Centre came to a standstill. I’d never seen anything like it. We all knew how devastating it would be for the BBC if Hutton were to clear Blair and blame us for getting it wrong – and that’s exactly what he did.
The word ‘whitewash’ rang out across the land – but within hours we were to see yet another BBC DG fall on his sword.
Months later, I was told by the most senior spy in the land that Kelly had been right. But top spies don’t give interviews, and I’d have probably been pushed under a train if I’d blabbed. But someone, somewhere, leaked it. Of course they did.
Six years later, another inquiry was launched.
This was no whitewash. It was devastating and ripped Hutton to shreds. Blair did only one solo interview – with me, the following morning.
It was the longest live interview Today had ever done. At one point, Blair used a phrase that puzzles me still.
When I challenged him about the truth (or otherwise) of his ‘weapons of mass destruction’ claims, he answered, ‘I only know what I believe.’ I’ve always been puzzled by that. Surely you know only what can be proved.
I count myself lucky that my lifetime at the BBC preceded the birth of the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) movement and the growth of a mighty force who call themselves the ‘activists’.
They have gone from strength to strength – aided and abetted by the phenomenal social revolution in this country, the like of which some of us struggle to comprehend.
There is no longer a boss in the BBC who doesn’t know that he/she will be out on their neck if they fail to promote DEI – as the activists define it.
Their rise to power has not been universally welcomed, which helps explain why the newsreader Martine Croxall felt she had to add ‘women’ when she was faced with a script that said ‘pregnant people’ in a live broadcast and why many of her colleagues silently applauded. Note the use of ‘silently’ there.
To use their own definition, the activists are ‘genderqueer, bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, non-binary, pansexual, intersex, asexual, queer or an ally’. Their word has become law. And why not? Equality matters.
The BBC has even advertised for a ‘Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging’, with a salary of up to £125,0000. Well worth it – maybe for someone who can define ‘belonging’.
And then there are all the LGBTQIA+ desks and the ‘gender and identity’ correspondents who staff them. And so it goes on. And woe betide the BBC boss who raises a questioning eyebrow. No wonder Tim had had enough.
But the BBC will survive, and I hope and believe it will emerge from the Trump crisis bloodied but largely unbowed.
And if it doesn’t?
Well, here’s where I have some breaking news guaranteed to put a spring in the step of even the most unconvinced of broadcasting sceptics out there.
A new podcast is about to be launched aimed specifically at you, dear Oldie-reader. It will be a conversation (of sorts) between Matthew Norman and me. I’ve always regarded Matthew, this magazine’s Grumpy Oldie Man, as the funniest and – in some ways – the most perceptive columnist in British journalism. He’s also a nightmare to keep under control. But that’s what I’m going to have to do, because I’ll be presenting the podcast with him. Here’s what he says about it:
‘Much as anyone on nodding terms with sanity hates pleasuring the political class, in this case that will be unavoidable. I will be interrupting John constantly, regardless of the topic at hand, and demanding he answer the question even when – particularly when – he is plainly doing just that.
‘We all know that he can dish it out, as he did for half a century. It will be intriguing to discover if he can take it.’
Hmm... We’ll see! John Humphrys presented the Today programme from 1987 to 2019. His podcast with Matthew Norman begins soon.
