(285)  HOLYROOD INQUIRY: BBC GOVERNORS REFUSE TO DISCLOSE INTERVIEW TAPES

 

Following a letter on the matter from John Swinney MSP, leader of the SNP in the Scottish Parliament, to Sir Robert Smith, BBC National Governor for Scotland, the BBC Board of Governors on 27 November 2003 upheld the position of BBC Scotland in refusing to hand over to the Fraser Inquiry into the Holyrood parliament building tapes containing interviews with the late Donald Dewar and Enric Miralles, recorded for a documentary about the building being made by the Wark Clements production company.  The refusal was made because BBC Scotland had promised several of those interviewed that nothing would be published before the building was complete. The governors concluded that BBC Scotland had acted in accordance with the corporation’s published guidelines, and that there was no reason for it to intervene.  Mr Swinney said: It is now time for Lord Fraser to consider seeking a court order.