0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
MPs were last night accused of North Korean-style propaganda tactics after rejecting the BBC’s offer to make a landmark documentary on Parliament.They insisted on ‘keeping control’ by doing their own production amid fears that they would be ‘stitched up’ over their expenses claims.Members of the Commons Administration Committee last week rejected award-winning film-maker Michael Cockerell’s offer to do the first in-depth documentary on Westminster in nearly 30 years.Mr Cockerell, working with renowned documentary-maker Anthony Geffen, producer of the new David Attenborough BBC series on the origins of life, had offered to do four hour-long programmes looking at the Commons from the inside. But the BBC said it could not cede editorial control to MPs so the committee instead called for the in-house Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit to do the filming. It could be streamed on the Commons website or sent out as a video as part of the Commons outreach programme. A source said: ‘Cockerell promised it would be a serious look at the work we do. ‘But despite the assurances, some of the committee said, “You can’t trust journalists. They will do us in at the first opportunity. It will all be about our expenses. They will stitch us up.”‘So instead, they said, “Let’s do it in-house.” ‘It’s a loony idea. We don’t live in North Korea. ‘What’s it going to involve? Sally Bercow, the Speaker’s wife, reading the news on Parliamentary TV?’It is understood Mr Cockerell proposed the series three years ago. The plan was shelved while the MPs’ expenses scandal raged but was revived by Commons authorities after the Election.A final decision will be taken by Speaker John Bercow and the House of Commons Commission.
That's what they keep telling us isn't it?
