The Tories have today attacked the BBC for failing to ban the playing of the song "Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead" on BBC Radio 1, the corporation's main popular music station. The station has a weekly chart show, which runs down the top 40 songs in that week's chart. Because thousands of people have been downloading the old Wizard of Oz song in celebration of Maggie's death it's likely to be pretty near the top of the chart, and would therefore normally be played on the show.

Various senior Conservatives called on the Director General of the BBC to ban the song from being played because it was disrespectful. When the Director General refused to immediately ban it, one senior Tory, Lord McAlpine, accused the BBC of "letting the charts be hijacked for political purposes". He went on to accuse the BBC of being "out of control" and "not balanced in its coverage".

I am disgusted by Lord McAlpine's attack on the BBC, for two reasons:

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1. His attack on the BBC is unjustified - the BBC is behaving reasonably and the criticism is not merited.
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How on earth are the BBC "letting the charts be hijacked" ? Whether or not their purchases are in good taste, people are purchasing a song which is freely and legitimately available for sale, and meets the criteria for inclusion in the chart. The top 40 singles chart is, at its core, nothing more than a weekly report of which singles / individual tracks people have been purchasing. For the BBC to ban the song from their chart coverage would be like trying to censor the news that people were buying the song in such large numbers.

On this point I therefore commend the Director General for taking the position that this is an editorial matter in which he should not intervene. That is the correct response. The BBC is the nation's main public broadcaster - that does not make it the government's mouthpiece. The editorial independence of the BBC is essential if it is to remain a respected and trusted source of information. The fact that a particular song is doing well in the charts is just that - information.

And:

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2. Lord McAlpine's criticism of the BBC makes him a hypocrite.
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Lord McAlpine has accused the BBC of "letting the charts be hijacked for political purposes" at the same time as the Conservative-led Government, who he represents in the House of Lords, is using a funeral for political purposes.

They are using the excuse of Mrs. Thatcher's funeral, or "Operation True Blue" as they are calling it, to mount an unprecedentedly politicized public event deliberately intended to translate the nation's feelings over Thatcher's death into support for their party. They have decided to give her a Falklands War-themed full military funeral at a cost to the taxpayer of several million pounds.

Here's some info, and from a Conservative-friendly source, at that:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9983231/Operation-True-Blue-Baroness-Thatchers-funeral-plans.html


To do this, and then at the same time have a blast at the BBC accusing them of playing politics, is sufficiently hypocritical as to border on the obscene.