There wasn’t much left of former director generals Tony Hall and John Birt after four-hour grilling
Call it a bonfire of the vanities. Normally the
BBC likes nothing more than a chance to talk about the failings of the BBC, but it’s not so keen when others get in on the act. Especially when those others are clued-up members of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee and the subject matter is Martin Bashir. By the time the nearly four-hour marathon session was concluded, all that was left of two former director generals of the BBC was a pile of ashes on the carpet.
First up before the committee was Tony Hall, who had been director of news when Bashir’s interview with Diana, Princess of Wales was broadcast in 1995 and director general when Bashir was rehired as religious affairs editor in 2016. The committee chair, Julian Knight, didn’t waste time on niceties. No “thank you for coming”, just why had Lord Hall concluded that Bashir was a decent and honourable man in his 1996 investigation despite having uncovered evidence that documents had been forged to secure the interview?