BBC staff in protest against British government 'attacks'
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-06 10:01

The traditionally staid staff of the BBC took to the streets in protest at what they called government attacks on the publicly-funded broadcaster following a judicial report which savaged its journalism standards.

Reporters, technicians and other employees staged demonstrations in front of their offices around Britain in an uncharacteristic display of passion for an institution better known for its sober reserve.

Several hundred people gathered outside BBC Television's main headquarters in west London, brandishing placards saying "Hands off the BBC" and similar messages.

Smaller protests were held outside BBC buildings in the northern English cities of Manchester and Newcastle, as well as in Glasgow in Scotland and Cardiff in Wales.

BBC staff are angry at the findings of a report published last week into the suicide of government weapons expert David Kelly.

Kelly killed himself last July after being named as the source of a hugely controversial BBC report which accused the government of exaggerating the case for war on Iraq.

Judge Lord Brian Hutton's inquiry exonerated the government of blame for Kelly's death and instead slammed the BBC's flagship radio news programme "Today" for making "unfounded" allegations.

The BBC's popular chief executive, Greg Dyke, and its chairman, Gavyn Davies, resigned immediately after the publication of the Hutton report, while the government extracted an unconditional apology from the corporation.

But BBC staff have condemned Hutton's findings as being excessively one-sided, while Dyke complained at the weekend that the government routinely tried to "intimidate" the BBC over its coverage of the Iraq war.

"The Hutton report betrayed us," said Toby Brown, a journalist for the BBC's 24-hour news channel.

Mike Baker, an education correspondent who has worked for the BBC for 24 years, said most staff were making a "symbolic protest".

"I felt that the Hutton report gave a very one-sided version of events," he said outside the London office.

"While clearly there were mistakes in the BBC's report of the (Kelly) story, the overall Hutton report was not balanced and I think it failed to take into account the amount of intimidation going on towards the BBC."

Lawmakers and other luminaries addressed staff, with celebrated film director Ken Loach telling BBC Radio workers at their headquarters in central London the government looked set to "breach BBC independence".

"We don't trust the government to stand by its promises not to interfere," he said.

Last week a spontaneous protest broke out at the BBC Television centre after Dyke resigned. Staff later paid for a full-page national newspaper advertisement vowing to keep the corporation independent.

Dyke was quoted as saying Thursday that he was writing a book about his time at the BBC, adding that he would happily return to his old job.

"Obviously in certain circumstances, if I was asked to go back of course I would go back. But I think it's very unlikely," he told trade magazine Broadcast.

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