From Alexandra Henderson Sir: Enjoyable as Rod Liddle's polemics are,
I can't let him get away with some of his wilder conclusions about the BBC's local election programme ('Why is the BBC so scared of the truth?', 10 May).
Liddle says that we under-reported quite how bad a night Labour had, and failed to say how good a night it was for the Conservatives (apart from the resignation of a Tory shadow minister, Crispin Blunt, which Rod appears to have missed altogether).
We were live in Birmingham, Bristol and Leicester to witness Labour losing control of councils they had run for years. Local Labour activists stated clearly that their own party was in trouble with electors about issues from the war to the delivery of public services. Time and again, Peter Snow pointed out that the Conservatives had the biggest share of the vote and were winning councils and councillors up and down the land. When we came off air with half the votes counted, we reported that the Conservatives had already won 331 extra seats. We did not give a prediction of the final result, because in local elections it is almost impossible to translate projected share into gains and losses.
However, as independent psephologists have pointed out, gaining seats is not the only barometer of performance. It is legitimate to ask whether a rise in the share of the vote for the opposition parties in the midterm elections will or will not translate into a rise in their vote at the next general election.
Liddle says we played down the low turnout in Wales. In fact, all discussion about Wales, since it was too early to bring actual results, was about the low turnout. Far from blaming the rain, Harvard's Professor Pippa Norris and Andrew Marr were clear in blaming 'deep disappointment' in both Scotland and Wales with the Parliament and Assembly.
Similarly, Liddle objects to us asking why people voted for the BNP. He feels we should simply tell the British public that the BNP is racist and leave it at that. We sent Mark Mardell to Burnley to report the BNP story through the night. And several of our guests — including the Commission for Racial Equality chairman, Trevor Phillips — did call them 'racists' on air.
Finally, in another throw-away line, Liddle accuses the social affairs editor Niall Dickson of asserting without evidence that British Muslims were opposed to suicide bombing. On the contrary, substantial evidence supports this view, including an opinion poll commissioned by Radio Four's Today programme. Alexandra Henderson
Editor, Vote 2003, BBC Television Centre, London W12
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