This week I talked to the veteran reporter Tom Mangold about his Radio 4 documentary, The Silent Conspiracy.
It dealt with the circumstances surrounding the 1979 trial of the former liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe for conspiracy to murder his former lover Norman Scott. Thorpe was found not guilty and it was not until the day after his death, 35 years later, that Tom’s programme went out.
Many listeners praised it although some thought its timing was “ill-mannered” and one listener said it was “dripping with Dark Ages homophobia”. I put those concerns to Tom Mangold and then went on to discuss with him what I thought was the most significant and interesting aspect of his absorbing documentary, the revelation of the almost instinctive Establishment cover up that had taken place.
It did not need to be organised, as everyone knew what was expected of them.
Was the hierarchy of the BBC part of that conspiracy?
Tom reminded me of the time when we had worked together on Panorama, in 1980 when I was his editor.
I had wanted to do a couple of programmes on the Secret Services, MI5 and MI6, which was not easy since officially they did not exist.
What could have been my motive?
The Director General, Ian Trethowan, thought he knew. He summoned Tom secretly to his office and told him that I was “a little marxist shit”.
Undoubtedly Trethowan, whom I quite liked, was under pressure then and later from the Government and some right wing Governors.
Well I wasn’t and never have been a Marxist or a member of any political party. And I am 6 feet tall!
I thought what we were proposing was a straightforward piece of public service broadcasting.
As the Secret Services had to operate in secret how could we ensure they were under proper democratic control? Who decided what was “subversive” were almost all their drawn from a narrow social class, what did they really cost?
The United States tried to resolve these issues by bringing the FBI and CIA into the open and having a Senate Oversight Committee. Would such scrutiny be suitable for us?
The background to this was a number of spy scandals, concerns of civil liberties groups, and the revelation that the Queen’s Chief art adviser, Sir Anthony Blunt, had not been prosecuted after his unmasking as a Russian spy, had been left in post, and had been given 24 hours’ notice of his treachery being revealed in Parliament so that he could hide away from the press.
Trethowan discouraged the investigation but did not ban it. Instead he insisted Tom report secretly to him and not tell me of their meetings, which put my reporter in a very difficult position.
Tom Mangold behaved honourably and eventually a programme went out, after it had been seen by the DG and unnamed civil servants, probably from the Security and Secret Services, in a cutting room in the West End.
After the viewing, Trethowan sent us a list of changes, correcting “mistakes”. We implemented some but not others, and the programme was transmitted.
I later found out that MI5 had their own man inside Broadcasting House. He was attached to the BBC’s Director of Personnel so he could vet BBC staff for security, allegedly placing “christmas trees” on the files of those who were thought to have doubtful pasts. From 1982 that role was filled by Brigadier Ronnie Stonham, who has also died recently.
Looking back it seems to me that the period was clearly something of a watershed.
Those in charge at the time had grown up in the war and many had served in it. They were accustomed to official secrecy and the existence of a largely unable Establishment.
For my generation (I was born in 1945) secrecy had to be justified not accepted. Deference was in decline. ability was the watchword.
Anyway, you can hear my interview with Tom Mangold about The Secret Conspiracy and the rest of the programme here.
Next week the Controller of Radio 4 is on answering questions put directly by listeners.
If you want to be one of her interrogators do let us know what you would like to ask her.
Cuts, the Archers – anything you like.
Roger Bolton
Roger Bolton is the presenter of
