raf04 juli 2006 – 14:04

BBC used MI5 to vet staff
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Confidential papers, obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, have revealed
that the BBC allowed MI5 to investigate the backgrounds and political
affiliations of thousands of its employees, including newsreaders,
reporters and continuity announcers.

The files, which shed light on the BBC's hitherto secret links with the
Security Service, show that at one stage it was responsible for vetting
6300 different BBC posts, almost a third of the total workforce.

They also confirm that the corporation held a list of 'subversive
organisations' and that evidence of certain kinds of political activity
could be a bar to appointment or promotion. The BBC's reliance on MI5
reached a peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s.