Yesterday's Men (TV programme)

Last updated

Yesterday's Men
GenreDocoumentary
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish

Yesterday's Men is a British documentary that appeared as part of the 24 Hours series (BBC 1) [1] on 17 June 1971. [2] The programme is remembered for provoking a clash between the Labour Party and the BBC. According to Anthony Smith, the editor of 24 Hours at the time, the film led to "the biggest and most furious row that a television programme in the English language has ever provoked." [3]

Contents

Documentary

The "History of the BBC" section of the corporation's website states on its page on the Yesterday's Men controversy: "Straight-dealing is one of the principles of BBC programme making, but it has not always been followed." [4] The programme makers reversed the slogan the Labour Party had used in the 1970 general election against the Conservatives (who won) to apply to the members of the former Labour government then in opposition. As far as they knew, the programme's title was "Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition"; the programme's real title was not disclosed to participants. [5] They were not informed that it would feature a satirical song with this title commissioned from The Scaffold pop group. [6] Wilson and his colleagues "were effectively tricked into taking part in a programme that would ridicule them" according to the BBC's own account. [4] The normal procedure would have been to refer the matter of the song upwards in the management hierarchy, but this was not done. [6]

The objective of the programme, envisioned David Dimbleby, [7] was to analyze the Labour Party's first year in opposition. Historian Jon Lawrence commented that "the programme was widely viewed as a deliberate attempt to undermine the folksy, down-to-earth image of Wilson and his fellow Labour ex-ministers by presenting them as driven above all by money and personal ambition." [8] The tone outraged Labour, particularly as a companion film on Edward Heath and his Conservative government broadcast the following evening Mr. Heath's Quiet Revolution [9] was thought to be much more positive. [10]

During Wilson's interview in his room at the House of Commons, [11] Dimbleby asked him to reveal the precise fee he had been paid by The Sunday Times for the serialisation rights of his memoirs. This, plus the accusation that he might have profited from his access to secret government papers [12] led to a heated exchange. [13] [14] According to press secretary Joe Haines, questions about Wilson's book were excluded from the agreement, although this detail was disputed. [12] This portion of the interview was not broadcast. The transcript soon leaked despite threats from Wilson. [14] "Inadvertently it seemed, we'd stumbled upon this legal tax avoidance scheme", Dimbleby said in 2013. According to him, as a first-time author, Wilson had been paid a small fee by his publisher, resulting in tax-free royalties. [5]

In addition to Wilson, the documentary features interviews with former cabinet ministers including James Callaghan, Roy Jenkins, Denis Healey and Barbara Castle. [2] Future prime minister (and Wilson's eventual successor) Callaghan was thought to be already too old for the job at almost 60. Jenkins tried to evade the question of whether—owing to his optimistic view of the entry into the European Economic Community (later the European Union)—he might ultimately lead a party faction in a split over the issue.

The political difficulties of the opposition are discussed, including the problems implicit in opposing the Industrial Relations Bill when the Labour government had made its attempt, with the "In Place of Strife" white paper, to change the legal framework under which industrial disputes should proceed. Callaghan, who had opposed "In Place of Strife", refused to say whether it was appropriate for Castle to shadow her previous portfolio. Peter Jenkins, a journalist on The Guardian , was interviewed about the political situation and leading figures.

Repercussions and responses

Haines complained about the documentary to Charles Curran, the BBC's director general, immediately after the filming of the Wilson interview had concluded. Lord Goodman, Wilson's solicitor, explored the legal possibilities of gaining an injunction to prevent its broadcast, which was not pursued. [3] Shortly before transmission, Wilson asked the governors to intervene, and contrary to usual practice, the governor's chairman Lord Hill, and some of his colleagues, saw the programme before it went out. [7] As Nick Robinson argues: "Instead of defending the management and inquiring afterward into whether they'd carried out their jobs properly, the governors had taken over editorial control at the prompting of a political leader." [14]

In response to the decision not to transmit the question about Wilson's memoirs, Dimbleby and director-producer Angela Pope had their names removed from the credits. [7] Journalist Robert Kee thought at the time that the programme was "a vulgarly brilliant equivalent of the newspaper cartoon" and that it was "the duty of a healthy Fourth Estate to reflect some [disrespect]." [15] According to Tony Benn in his diary, those responsible for the programme "knifed Harold as hard as they could." [16]

In an internal contemporary memo, John Crawley, assistant to Charles Curran, thought "the title and the commissioned song ... [gave] the programme the flavour of malice that ruined it." [11] Later in 1971, the governors issued a partial apology for the film, and a BBC Programmes Complaints Commission was established in October. [17] Subsequently, Dimbleby detected a "rather hideous softening" in the way politicians were questioned, [18] and BBC–Labour relations took time to return to normal. The Annan Committee Report in 1977 commented that the controversy had led to "caution, lack of direction, touchiness and unsteadiness" at the BBC. [19]

John Simpson, reflecting in 2010, wrote that while the programme was "clever and funny", it was also "distinctly shallow, poking its finger into the eye of authority merely for the sake of it." [13] The Corporation agreed not to show the film again during Wilson's lifetime, and it was not screened until a Harold Wilson Night on the BBC Parliament channel in 2013 commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Wilson becoming Labour leader. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Foot</span> British politician (1913–2010)

Michael Mackintosh Foot was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on Tribune and the Evening Standard. He co-wrote the 1940 polemic against appeasement of Hitler, Guilty Men, under a pseudonym.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Jenkins</span> British politician (1920–2003)

Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, was a British politician and writer who served as the sixth President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and a peer for the Liberal Democrats, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary under the Wilson and Callaghan Governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Callaghan</span> Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979

Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was a British statesman and Labour politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is the only person to have held all four Great Offices of State, having also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1964 to 1967, Home Secretary from 1967 to 1970 and Foreign Secretary from 1974 to 1976. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 United Kingdom general election</span> General election in the United Kingdom which led to Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister

The 1979 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the House of Commons. The election was held following the defeat of the Labour government in a no-confidence motion on 28 March 1979, six months before the Parliament was due for dissolution in October 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1983 United Kingdom general election</span> British 1983 election

The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of the Labour Party in 1945, with a majority of 144 seats and the first of two consecutive landslide victories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Healey</span> British politician (1917–2015)

Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, was a British Labour Party politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he remains the longest-serving Defence Secretary to date. He was a Member of Parliament from 1952 to 1992, and was Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983. To the public at large, Healey became well known for his bushy eyebrows, his avuncular manner and his creative turns of phrase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1987 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive general election victory for the Conservative Party, who won a majority of 102 seats and second landslide under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool in 1820 to lead a party into three successive electoral victories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">February 1974 United Kingdom general election</span>

The February 1974 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 28 February 1974. The Labour Party, led by Leader of the Opposition and former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, gained 14 seats but was seventeen short of an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Edward Heath, lost 28 seats. That resulted in a hung parliament, the first since 1929. Heath sought a coalition with the Liberals, but the two parties failed to come to an agreement and so Wilson became prime minister for a second time, his first with a minority government. Wilson called another early election in September, which was held in October and resulted in a Labour majority. The February election was also the first general election to be held with the United Kingdom as a member state of the European Communities (EC), which was widely known as the "Common Market".

BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that showcases parliamentary content from across the United Kingdom. It broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the London Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Senedd. When none of these chambers are sitting, the channel does not broadcast, and its feed is given over to a simulcast of the BBC News channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert McKenzie (psephologist)</span>

Robert Trelford McKenzie was a Canadian professor of politics and sociology, and a psephologist. He is perhaps best known in Britain as one of the main presenters of the BBC's General Election programmes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum</span>

The 1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, also known variously as the Referendum on the European Community (Common Market), the Common Market referendum and EEC membership referendum, was a non-binding referendum that took place on 5 June 1975 in the United Kingdom (UK) under the provisions of the Referendum Act 1975 to ask the electorate whether the country should continue to remain a member of, or leave, the European Communities (EC) also known at the time as the Common Market — which it had joined as a member state two-and-a-half years earlier on 1 January 1973 under the Conservative government of Edward Heath. The Labour Party's manifesto for the October 1974 general election had promised that the people would decide through the ballot box whether to remain in the EC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Dimbleby</span> British commentator and presenter (born 1938)

David Dimbleby is an English journalist and former presenter of current affairs and political programmes, best known for having presented the BBC topical debate programme Question Time. He is the son of broadcaster Richard Dimbleby and elder brother of Jonathan Dimbleby, of the Dimbleby family. Long involved in the coverage of national events, Dimbleby hosted the BBC Election Night coverage from 1979 to 2017, as well as United States presidential elections on the BBC until 2016. He has also presented and narrated documentary series on architecture and history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Dimbleby</span> English journalist and broadcaster (1913–1965)

Frederick Richard Dimbleby was an English journalist and broadcaster, who became the BBC's first war correspondent, and then its leading TV news commentator.

<i>Question Time</i> (TV programme) British topical debate TV programme

Question Time is a topical debate programme, typically broadcast on BBC One at 10:45 pm on Thursdays. It is usually repeated on BBC Two and on BBC Parliament later in the week. If there is a Leaders special, it would be broadcast simultaneously on BBC News. Question Time is also available on BBC iPlayer. Fiona Bruce currently chairs the show having succeeded David Dimbleby as presenter in January 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Walden</span> British politician and broadcaster

Alastair Brian Walden was a British journalist and broadcaster who spent over a decade as a Labour politician and Member of Parliament (MP). He was considered one of the finest political interviewers in the history of British broadcasting, tenacious and ruthless. He won awards for broadcasting including the BAFTA Richard Dimbleby Award for television in 1986, and in 1991 was named ITV Personality of the Year. He was known for interviews of politicians, especially Margaret Thatcher. He was said to be her favourite interviewer, although he gave her tough interviews.

<i>Any Questions?</i> British topical discussion programme

Any Questions? is a British topical discussion programme "in which a panel of personalities from the worlds of politics, media, and elsewhere are posed questions by the audience".

The 1976 Labour Party leadership election occurred when Harold Wilson resigned as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. It is the only occasion when the Labour Party, whilst in government, has had a leadership election with more than one candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 United Kingdom general election debates</span>

The United Kingdom general election debates of 2010 consisted of a series of three leaders' debates between the leaders of the three main parties contesting the 2010 general election: Gordon Brown, Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party; David Cameron, Leader of the Opposition and Conservative Party; and Nick Clegg, leader of the third largest political party in the UK, the Liberal Democrats. They were the first such debates to be broadcast live in the run-up to a UK election.

The 2015 United Kingdom general election debates were a series of four live television programmes featuring the leaders of seven main British parties that took place during the run-up to the general election. They each featured different formats and participants.

Rob Burley is an English television producer, formerly the BBC's editor of live political programmes. He was the editor of The Andrew Marr Show, Politics Live, Newscast on television, Newswatch and The Westminster Hour.

References

  1. 1 2 "Yesterday's Men". BBC Parliament, 24 Hours. 2013. Sources vary as to whether the programme was shown on 16 or 17 June.
  2. 1 2 "24 Hours: Yesterday's Men". BBC Genome. 23 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 Freedman, Des (2005) [2003]. Television Policies of the Labour Party, 1951-2001. London & Portland, Oregon: Taylor & Francis/Frank Cass. p. 77. ISBN   9781135759247.
  4. 1 2 "Yesterday's Men (1971)". History of the BBC. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  5. 1 2 Diggins, Alex (23 June 2021). "'A disgrace to the BBC': How Yesterday's Men sank Harold Wilson for good". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  6. 1 2 Briggs, Asa (1995). The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume V: Competition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 895. ISBN   978-0-19-215964-9.
  7. 1 2 3 Wilby, David (2006). "Yesterday's Men 1971" (PDF). History of the BBC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2014.
  8. ↑ Lawrence, Jon (2009). Electing Our Masters : The Hustings in British Politics from Hogarth to Blair: The Hustings in British Politics from Hogarth to Blair. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 217. ISBN   978-0-19-156776-6.
  9. ↑ Crisell, Andrew (2002). An Introductory History of British Broadcasting. London & New York City: Routledge. p. 185. ISBN   9781134796786.
  10. ↑ Duguid, Mark (2003–2014). "Dimbleby, David (1938-)". BFI Screenonline.
  11. 1 2 Miall, Leonard (22 March 2006). "Obituary: John Crawley". The Independent . Archived from the original on 5 April 2008.
  12. 1 2 Henretty, Chris (2011). Public Broadcasting and Political Interference. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 112–13. ISBN   9781136702112.
  13. 1 2 Simpson, John (2010). Unreliable Sources: How the 20th Century was Reported. London: Macmillan. pp. 441–442. ISBN   9781405050050.
  14. 1 2 3 Robinson, Nick (2013). Live from Downing Street: The Inside Story of Politics, Power and the Media. London: Bantam Press. pp. 204–205. ISBN   9780857500007.
  15. ↑ Briggs History of Broadcasting, Vol V, p. 897
  16. ↑ Tony Benn, Office Without Power: Diaries 1968-72, London: Hutchinson, 1988, p. 350
  17. ↑ Henretty, Public Broadcasting and Political Interference, p. 114
  18. ↑ Jones, Bill (1992). "Broadcasters, Politicians and the Political Interview". In Jones, Bill; Robins, Linton (eds.). Two Decades in British Politics: Essays to Mark Twenty-one Years of the Politics Association, 1969-90. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 61. ISBN   9780719035326.
  19. ↑ Robinson, Live From Downing Street, p. 206
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.