BBC spends too much and is run by hippies, complained Harold Wilson
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:01 AM on 30th December 2008
Harold Wilson lashed out at the 'lavish' spending of the BBC which he
complained was dominated by hippies, confidential government files reveal.
The Labour Prime Minister also attacked the TV licence fee as a 'regressive
form of taxation'.
In private exchanges with Home Secretary Roy Jenkins from October 1974, he
criticised the corporation for demanding licence-fee rises while failing to
cut its spending.
He said: 'The system in which the fee is increased on infrequent occasions
by relatively large amounts means that immediately after an increase the BBC
is flush with money and increases its expenditure commitments.
'This can only encourage the BBC's tendency to over-lavish expenditure.
Mr Wilson singled out coverage of the October 1974 election campaign - in
which he narrowly beat the Conservatives - for particular attack.
He complained that he was 'followed around the country by a large BBC
television crew' who 'stayed in the best hotels and ate the best food'.
Three months later, Mr Wilson discussed the state of the BBC and its
spending during a dinner with the corporation'
who had recently taken the post after leaving an academic job at Edinburgh
University.
The notes of the meeting describe how the men discussed 'hippy influencesin
the BBC. They add: 'Sir Michael Swann said that, while he would not pretend
that the BBC was completely clear of problems of this kind, it was a picnic
compared with Edinburgh University.
Full story:
http://www.dailymai
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Posts
