Maggie's Militant Tendency

This article outlines, in chronological order, the various scandals surrounding or involving the BBC that have occurred.

The BBC was established as the privately controlled British Broadcasting Company in 1922. In 1926 the unions called for a General Strike and the Conservative Government feared the outbreak of revolution, as had happened in Russia in 1917. Labour Party politicians such as Ramsay MacDonald and Philip Snowden criticised the BBC for being pro-Government and anti-Unions; however, throughout the strike, Reith insisted that the news bulletins report all sides of the dispute without comment.

Reith's attempts to broadcast statements by the Labour Party and TUC leaders were blocked by the Government; in partial response, he personally vetoed a statement that Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury, wished to make, in the belief that allowing such a statement would give Winston Churchill both motive and opportunity to take over the BBC—something which Churchill had continually advocated since the beginning of the Strike. Reith admitted to his staff that he would have preferred to allow the Labour and TUC leaders to broadcast directly. A post-strike analysis carried out by the BBC's Programme Correspondence Department reported that of those polled, 3,696 commended the BBC's coverage, whilst 176 were critical.

Since 1927, there have been arguments over impartiality at the BBC. Prior to World War II, Sir John Reith excluded Winston Churchill from the BBC airwaves due to his inflammatory statements and reputation for drunkenness. In 1927, under a Royal Charter, the BBC became a public entity for the first time – with requirements including the need for impartiality and for staff not to express opinions on controversial subject matters.

Because the BBC had become both a monopoly and a non-commercial entity, it soon faced controversial competition from British subjects who were operating leased transmitters on the continent of Europe before World War II, to blast commercial radio programmes into the United Kingdom. John Reith who had been given powers to dictate the cultural output of the BBC retaliated by leading the opposition to these commercial stations. Controversy spilled over into the press when the British government attempted to censor the printing of their programme information. The pressure was created by the success of these stations. By 1938 it was reported that on Sundays 80% of the British audience was tuning into commercial radio, rather than the non-commercial BBC.

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