The Fifth Estate
Mr. Churchill's broadcast of August 26th, on his reasons for advocating the recall of Parliament before September 12th, will no doubt be important in its own right. But it will also be important on constitutional grounds. The British Broadcasting Corporation is slowly, and for the most part silently, acquiring a position within the British constitution which appears to need careful examination. The position in the present instance is that the Prime Minister announced that Parliament would reassemble on September 12th ; Mr. Churchill and Mr. Clement Davies asked that it should re- assemble earlier ; the Prime Minister rejected their request ; and Mr. Churchill then announced that he would broadcast on the subject, using for this purpose one of the times allotted to party political broadcasts. So far everything seems to have gone smoothly. But there are still a number of important questions to be asked. Is it right that a matter of this character—a matter of first-class public concern involving constitutional issues—should be dealt with in broadcast statements by Mr. Churchill, with a possible reply by Mr. Morrison, with an audience of millions, but without the advantage of full discussion and debate before a House of Commons ordered and governed by a body of well-tried rules ? These broad- casts are no ordinary statements. They could have very far- reaching effects. They might even create a situation in which a General Election would be necessary, and it cannot be said that that has ever been the case with any previous contribution to the party political series. Again, is it right that in this case the arrange- ments for the alloment of time on the air should be even partly controlled by the B.B.C.—a body not appointed by the electorate ? The present arrangements for pdlitical broadcasts appear to work very well, but are they ideal ? It is too often assumed that that which the B.B.C. happens to do well is being done in the best possible way. The whole question needs to be examined with care. The B.B.C. has already acquired one constitutional function through the Representation of the People Act—that of controlling the re-transmission of any election broadcasts originating outside the United Kingdom—and if it is to be given any more, both Parliament and people should be quite clear as to what is happening.
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