David Norris (Independent)

It was those two clowns who precipitated this debate. It was a good idea for a filler. Let us have a look at this incident. There was an offence, and it was gross. It was at the expense of that decent man Mr. Sachs, who played Manuel in "Fawlty Towers". It was a gross personal insult to him and it was nasty and treacherous — even if it had been only a private telephone call — to telephone a person and say in vulgar language that one had enjoyed — or experienced, as I do not know whether he enjoyed it — sexual relations with his grand-daughter. What was the purpose of that except to hurt and to wound? It was an editorial decision to broadcast this. The presenters clowned around apparently on the basis that since this was an edited programme, the offensive material would be edited out before broadcast, but it was not. However, the initial human offence remains, but is limited.

Let us consider the structure within the BBC, because that is also a problem. Privatisation and competition — all these things that have frequently militated against the interest of the ordinary citizen — come into play again. Like our own RTE, the BBC has franchised out the making of programmes to independent companies.