Political interference in the BBC’s lectures | Letters

Fri, 28 Nov 2025

Controversy over BBC lectures is nothing new, says Mark Thompson, while Chris Barney believes the latest ‘censorship’ row could boost this year’s audience figures, and Alan Stone gives advice to BBC reporters

As the BBC flounders in the backlash of the hamfisted edit of Donald Trump’s January 6 speech (Reith lecturer accuses BBC of cowardice for censoring his remarks on Trump, 25 November) we have lost sight of the fact that Auntie Beeb has long been tethered by a political leash. I’m sure examples abound. My blinkers were removed when my father, EP Thompson, was asked to give the Dimbleby lecture in the mid-1980s. I well remember Jonathan Dimbleby and Bel Mooney discussing the project over lunch at my parents’ house outside Worcester.

Edward was disappointed, though hardly surprised, when the lectures were vetoed by the BBC’s top brass. It’s a shame. He was an inspired wordsmith. Not for the first or last time, nation was prevented from speaking peace to nation.
Mark Thompson
London