BBC urged to disclose action on news hacking claim
The Tories tonight called on the BBC to disclose what action it had taken to investigate claims by its senior foreign correspondent John Simpson that Downing Street had hacked into the Corporation’s computer.
In a new book, Mr Simpson claimed that the computer hacking had been part of an attempt by officials to influence news reports critical of the British government.
He said that reporters had been contacted by Government officials asking them to tone down their reports before they had even been broadcast.
Although there was no proof, Mr Simpson said that a number of journalists were “morally certain” that the officials had been reading their scripts in the computer system.
Downing Street vehemently dismissed the allegations as “complete rubbish” and “utter drivel”.
However, the shadow secretary for the office of the deputy prime minister, David Davis, tonight wrote to the chairman of the BBC Board of Governors, Gavyn Davies, asking what steps had been taken to investigate the claims.
“If Mr Simpson is right, there has been attempted interference in the BBC’s news coverage using information that should not have been available to either No 10 or the Labour Party,” he said in his letter.
“These are serious allegations. The Charter requires the BBC to provide independent and impartial news coverage.
“The public needs to be reassured that the BBC has done all it can to ascertain whether any improper conduct has taken place.”
The Sunday Telegraph, which is serialising Mr Simpson’s book News from No Man’s Land, reported that BBC managers ordered an inquiry after staff reported their concerns following Labour’s 1997 general election victory.
The investigation was said to have centred on former BBC employees who may still have known passwords and may have been able to gain access to the system.
Although no proof was found, the BBC newsroom shortly afterwards switched to a more secure computer system, the paper said.
A BBC spokesman said tonight that there had not been any “formal” investigation into the claims.
He added: “Although we don’t discuss issues of security, if there was any abuse we would put a stop to it.”
In his book, Mr Simpson said that when one journalist wrote a script on his computer for the next news bulletin he would be rung up by Downing Street before it was broadcast and “lobbied on a point or two”.
“This didn’t happen just once or twice. Downing Street has also rung up The World at One programme to complain about the items it was planning to run,” he said.
He claimed the tactics were part of a widespread attempt by the British government to pressurise the BBC and other broadcasters, adding: “Several colleagues are morally certain that it is happened.”
