Radio's king of rude launches another salvo at Labour 'liars'
By Tom Baldwin and Andrew Pierce
'The BBC got it right over sexed-up Iraq documents'
Watch Humphrys in action
JOHN HUMPHRYS has ridiculed senior Labour politicians and implied that all ministers are liars in a speech in which he asserted that the purpose of the BBC is to “take on” the Government.
The BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter — the most recognisable voice of BBC current affairs — was filmed making his remarks to the Communication Directors’ Forum on June 8. A copy of the videotape has subsequently been passed to The Times.
It is thought that he was paid about £12,000 for appearing at the event, one of a series of regular speeches that he gives to supplement his BBC income. Last year he considered resigning after being ordered to stop writing a column for The Sunday Times, one of a series of measures taken by the BBC to repair its reputation for impartiality after the Andrew Gilligan affair.
But in his speech Humphrys expressed his view that Gilligan’s bitterly contested report on Today, alleging that Downing Street had deliberately inserted false information to “sex up” intelligence on Iraq, was true. He conceded that the BBC could have handled complaints from Alastair Campbell, the former head of communications at Downing Street, a little better. “However, the fact is that we got it right.” Humphrys went on to say: “If we were not prepared to take on a very, very powerful government, there would be no point in the BBC existing — that is ultimately what the BBC is for.”
Although he insisted that “mostly I have a degree of respect” for politicians, the Today presenter did little to disguise his dislike of Tony Blair and his contempt for other figures in the Labour Party.
He acknowledged that the Prime Minister had “not been the closest of friends”, adding: “All you’ve got to do is say, ‘John Prescott’ and people laugh.” Peter Mandelson, he said, was detested by everyone, Gordon Brown was “the most boring political interviewee I’ve ever had in my whole bloody life”, and Mr Campbell was a “pretty malevolent force . . . who has been waging a vendetta against me for a long time ”.
Humphrys, who did not attack any current Conservative or Liberal Democrat, also claimed that “those who do not lie at all ever . . . do not get into government” because the whips “won’t go near you with a barge pole”. His remarks were clearly intended as light-hearted but the Chancellor may take objection to one anecdote in which Humphrys referred to Mr Brown winking at him from “his one good eye” — Mr Brown lost the sight of his left eye after being kicked in a school rugby game.
Today listeners may also be surprised by his regular deployment of foul language. In his speech, Humphrys uses — sometimes quoting others — the words “c***”, “f***”, “tulipe”, “******”, “crap”, “bulltulip”, and “asshole”.
But more significant are his remarks on the Gilligan affair, which appear to contradict the “unreserved apology” for the BBC’s errors which Lord Ryder of Wensum, the acting chairman of the governors, made to the Government after publi- cation of the Hutton report.
The issue remains one of acute sensitivity for the BBC. After Lord Hutton’s verdict, it commissioned Ron Neil, a former senior editor, to overhaul journalistic standards. His report, published in June last year, said: “Presenters are the public face and voice of the BBC’s journalism. The tone and approach they take has a significant impact on perceptions of the BBC’s accuracy and impartiality.” The disclosure of the videotaped speech is likely to raise speculation about whether one of Humphrys’s many enemies inside — and outside — Government are using underhand methods to damage him. However, Today itself is no stranger to such techniques.
Senior Labour MPs expressed deep concern about Humphrys’s comments. Sir Gerald Kaufman, the former Labour chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee, said: “I think it would be useful if Michael Grade [the BBC Chairman] and Mark Thompson [the Director-General] had a discussion with John Humphrys and explain to him, very carefully, just what is the purpose of the BBC. He clearly does not understand that it is to provide as objective a news service as is possible.”
Tim Allan, a former aide to Mr Blair who now runs his own public relations agency, Portland, has been a persistent critic of BBC journalism. He first raised the issue of Humphrys’s extra curricular activities in an Edinburgh television festival debate last month.
He said: “John Humphrys’s peculiar brand of folksy nihilism is designed to spread cynicism about politics. The BBC now has to decide whether it is acceptable for their main radio presenter to use his licence fee-created celebrity to earn thousands of pounds telling audiences that all ministers are liars.”
Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, said: “The BBC itself is responsible for ensuring that its codes of conduct for journalists are adhered to.”
Humphrys was unrepentant, insisting that they were meant to be “humorous and knockabout”. He added: “I do not think anything that I said was out of order.”
Challenged about his assertion that MPs had to be prepared to lie if they were to become a minister, he said: “I genuinely do not believe that all politicians lie. The point I was trying to make, perhaps hamfistedly, is that there are occasions when politicians cannot tell the truth because of issues like collective responsibility.
“If you are always going to be open, frank and honest you will not get on,” he said.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “He is one of our most admired and respected presenters, recognised by audiences for his impartiality, objectivity and integrity. Like all presenters and journalists across the BBC, John must and does practice these values in everything that he does for the BBC.”
But a source close to the BBC Governors said that Humphrys had gone too far, adding: “On Hutton, he is wrong on substance. There have to be guidelines about what BBC presenters can speak about.
“He certainly needs to be rebuked or more. He should be told, ‘You are not God’.”
HONESTY AS THE HUMPHRYS' POLICY
On relations with the Prime Minister:
“We have not been the closest of friends over the last four or five years — indeed scarcely spoken to each other.”
On Peter Mandelson:
“Now there is a man they, I think probably all, detest. I said to somebody once, ‘Why do you all take an instant dislike to Mandelson?’ and he said, ‘It saves time’.”
On Gordon Brown:
“I do get to interview Gordon Brown a lot, oh joy. He is quite easily the most boring political interviewee I have ever had in my whole bloody life.”
On John Prescott
“All you’ve got to do is say John Prescott and people laugh, it’s not fair is it? I’m sure he makes a great deal of sense but it’s just that you can’t understand a bloody word he says.”
On politicians and truth: “There are those who do not lie at all ever and they don’t get in to government. The whips won’t go near you with a barge pole, well they will, but only to push you into the lake. The second lot are those who will lie but really don’t like it. And the third lot couldn’t give a bugger whether they lie or not. And there are some of those.”
On Andrew Gilligan’s allegations about the ‘sexed up’ dossier:
“All of which subsequently, with one small emendation (sic) turned out to be true.”
Additional reporting by Rhiannon James
-------
Now this is the kind of BBC tax I am prepared to pay for
By Tom Baldwin and Andrew Pierce
'The BBC got it right over sexed-up Iraq documents'
Watch Humphrys in action
JOHN HUMPHRYS has ridiculed senior Labour politicians and implied that all ministers are liars in a speech in which he asserted that the purpose of the BBC is to “take on” the Government.
The BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter — the most recognisable voice of BBC current affairs — was filmed making his remarks to the Communication Directors’ Forum on June 8. A copy of the videotape has subsequently been passed to The Times.
It is thought that he was paid about £12,000 for appearing at the event, one of a series of regular speeches that he gives to supplement his BBC income. Last year he considered resigning after being ordered to stop writing a column for The Sunday Times, one of a series of measures taken by the BBC to repair its reputation for impartiality after the Andrew Gilligan affair.
But in his speech Humphrys expressed his view that Gilligan’s bitterly contested report on Today, alleging that Downing Street had deliberately inserted false information to “sex up” intelligence on Iraq, was true. He conceded that the BBC could have handled complaints from Alastair Campbell, the former head of communications at Downing Street, a little better. “However, the fact is that we got it right.” Humphrys went on to say: “If we were not prepared to take on a very, very powerful government, there would be no point in the BBC existing — that is ultimately what the BBC is for.”
Although he insisted that “mostly I have a degree of respect” for politicians, the Today presenter did little to disguise his dislike of Tony Blair and his contempt for other figures in the Labour Party.
He acknowledged that the Prime Minister had “not been the closest of friends”, adding: “All you’ve got to do is say, ‘John Prescott’ and people laugh.” Peter Mandelson, he said, was detested by everyone, Gordon Brown was “the most boring political interviewee I’ve ever had in my whole bloody life”, and Mr Campbell was a “pretty malevolent force . . . who has been waging a vendetta against me for a long time ”.
Humphrys, who did not attack any current Conservative or Liberal Democrat, also claimed that “those who do not lie at all ever . . . do not get into government” because the whips “won’t go near you with a barge pole”. His remarks were clearly intended as light-hearted but the Chancellor may take objection to one anecdote in which Humphrys referred to Mr Brown winking at him from “his one good eye” — Mr Brown lost the sight of his left eye after being kicked in a school rugby game.
Today listeners may also be surprised by his regular deployment of foul language. In his speech, Humphrys uses — sometimes quoting others — the words “c***”, “f***”, “tulipe”, “******”, “crap”, “bulltulip”, and “asshole”.
But more significant are his remarks on the Gilligan affair, which appear to contradict the “unreserved apology” for the BBC’s errors which Lord Ryder of Wensum, the acting chairman of the governors, made to the Government after publi- cation of the Hutton report.
The issue remains one of acute sensitivity for the BBC. After Lord Hutton’s verdict, it commissioned Ron Neil, a former senior editor, to overhaul journalistic standards. His report, published in June last year, said: “Presenters are the public face and voice of the BBC’s journalism. The tone and approach they take has a significant impact on perceptions of the BBC’s accuracy and impartiality.” The disclosure of the videotaped speech is likely to raise speculation about whether one of Humphrys’s many enemies inside — and outside — Government are using underhand methods to damage him. However, Today itself is no stranger to such techniques.
Senior Labour MPs expressed deep concern about Humphrys’s comments. Sir Gerald Kaufman, the former Labour chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee, said: “I think it would be useful if Michael Grade [the BBC Chairman] and Mark Thompson [the Director-General] had a discussion with John Humphrys and explain to him, very carefully, just what is the purpose of the BBC. He clearly does not understand that it is to provide as objective a news service as is possible.”
Tim Allan, a former aide to Mr Blair who now runs his own public relations agency, Portland, has been a persistent critic of BBC journalism. He first raised the issue of Humphrys’s extra curricular activities in an Edinburgh television festival debate last month.
He said: “John Humphrys’s peculiar brand of folksy nihilism is designed to spread cynicism about politics. The BBC now has to decide whether it is acceptable for their main radio presenter to use his licence fee-created celebrity to earn thousands of pounds telling audiences that all ministers are liars.”
Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, said: “The BBC itself is responsible for ensuring that its codes of conduct for journalists are adhered to.”
Humphrys was unrepentant, insisting that they were meant to be “humorous and knockabout”. He added: “I do not think anything that I said was out of order.”
Challenged about his assertion that MPs had to be prepared to lie if they were to become a minister, he said: “I genuinely do not believe that all politicians lie. The point I was trying to make, perhaps hamfistedly, is that there are occasions when politicians cannot tell the truth because of issues like collective responsibility.
“If you are always going to be open, frank and honest you will not get on,” he said.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “He is one of our most admired and respected presenters, recognised by audiences for his impartiality, objectivity and integrity. Like all presenters and journalists across the BBC, John must and does practice these values in everything that he does for the BBC.”
But a source close to the BBC Governors said that Humphrys had gone too far, adding: “On Hutton, he is wrong on substance. There have to be guidelines about what BBC presenters can speak about.
“He certainly needs to be rebuked or more. He should be told, ‘You are not God’.”
HONESTY AS THE HUMPHRYS' POLICY
On relations with the Prime Minister:
“We have not been the closest of friends over the last four or five years — indeed scarcely spoken to each other.”
On Peter Mandelson:
“Now there is a man they, I think probably all, detest. I said to somebody once, ‘Why do you all take an instant dislike to Mandelson?’ and he said, ‘It saves time’.”
On Gordon Brown:
“I do get to interview Gordon Brown a lot, oh joy. He is quite easily the most boring political interviewee I have ever had in my whole bloody life.”
On John Prescott
“All you’ve got to do is say John Prescott and people laugh, it’s not fair is it? I’m sure he makes a great deal of sense but it’s just that you can’t understand a bloody word he says.”
On politicians and truth: “There are those who do not lie at all ever and they don’t get in to government. The whips won’t go near you with a barge pole, well they will, but only to push you into the lake. The second lot are those who will lie but really don’t like it. And the third lot couldn’t give a bugger whether they lie or not. And there are some of those.”
On Andrew Gilligan’s allegations about the ‘sexed up’ dossier:
“All of which subsequently, with one small emendation (sic) turned out to be true.”
Additional reporting by Rhiannon James
-------
Now this is the kind of BBC tax I am prepared to pay for
Comment