Letters
Kilroy-Silk and the BBC
20 February 2004
Dear Sir
The real issue with Robert Kilroy Silk's sacking is not freedom of speech but the BBC's integrity as a public service broadcaster.
As Jenny Tonge found to her cost, people in responsible public positions cannot expect to use their freedom of speech with impunity. If Kilroy had written a genuinely racist diatribe, the BBC would surely have been right to oust him for violating standards of objectivity and impartiality.
However, the article, though clumsily written, was primarily intended as a criticism of Arab governments rather than the imperfections of Arab people. His comments hardly appear motivated by race hate. In this light, Kilroy's sacking appears unjust, dangerous and foolish.
However, the BBC could and should have acted against Tom Paulin after his outrageous incitement to the racial murder of American Jews. By refusing to do so, the BBC is guilty, at best, of double standards and, at worst, of pandering to a dubious pan Arabist agenda in which expressions of anti semitic prejudice matter less than the milder criticism of Arab states.
Either way, the spotlight must now fall on the BBC's integrity rather than on Kilroy's views.
Yours sincerely
Jeremy Havardi
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