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In denial

From C. Francis Warren Sir: In the last two editions of The Spectator, we have had detailed examination of the BBC's EU bias, even if, as Peter Hitchens says, it is not only 'immensely subtle' but also perhaps 'almost never intentional' (Reform the BBC, don't kill it', 20 Septem

her). Rod Liddle, as a former BBC official, kindly provides us, even if again unintentionally, with proof of this state of denial. In The Spectator on 5 May 2001, as the then editor of the BBC's Today programme, he nonchalantly reacted to accusations of EU bias with the supreme understatement: 'Yes, we probably underplayed the Eurosceptic cause a little' [my emphasis]. Contrast this with his recent admission as commentator that the BBC had shown 'lamentable bias [my emphasis] against the Euro-realists' (Thought for the day, 20 September).

C. Francis Warren

Lancaster

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