Not sure of Newsround's reasons, but their web page entitled "Gay marriage to be introduced in Scotland" (see blog on 25 July 2012) was altered to "Same-sex marriage to be introduced in Scotland"

Proposals to amend the marriage laws, and dissent within the Conservative Party was the subject of a report on Radio 4's World at One earlier today.

Martha Kearney: More and more people in Britain are having civil partnerships according to figures out today. Nearly 7000 same-sex couples decided to formalise their relationships last year. The total number of civil partnerships since the [Civil Partnership] Act came into force in 2005 is 53,000 - that's five times more than the Government expected back then. But plans to extend those rights to gay marriage have been causing controversy within the Conservative Party, as our Political Correspondent Chris Mason now reports.

Chris Mason: Rewind the clock almost a year, and here is the Prime Minister at Conservative Party conference last autumn.

David Cameron: Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us - that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and we support each other. So I don't support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative, I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative. (conference audience applause)

Chris Mason: Applause from many in the conference hall. But some sat on their hands. Critics of the idea hope that the Government might just not get round to legalising gay marriage. But then a definitive promise from the Prime Minister last week. He told lesbian and gay groups that gay marriage will be legal by 2015. And those remarks have re-energised the debate among some Conservatives. Emma Pidding is the chairman of the Conservative National Convention, which represents volunteers in the Party.

Emma Pidding: I'm aware of a few individuals that feel very very passionately about this issue, either one way or the other. So to them it is a hugely significant issue. My concern is that we are potentially upsetting our members and activists when I have one goal, and that is to obtain a Conservative majority government in 2015. And therefore anything that upsets any of my members, then you know I don't like to see that.

Chris Mason: For Emma Pidding the debate within the Conservative Party on gay marriage probably reflects the debate in society at large. Some are passionately in favour, some are passionately against, many are relatively indifferent. There appear to be three principal strands to Tory opposition to the idea - moral, religious and political.

Chris Mason: Forty-five minutes from Westminster and the marginal seat of Enfield, Southgate in North London which is represented by Tory MP David Burrowes. Mr Burrowes is the chairman of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, and a long-standing critic of gay marriage.

David Burrowes: The issue that is being put forward is one that is vote-defining for many people. Even in my constituency, where they know that I am firmly opposed to the proposal, they themselves would say that if that does go through as legislation then they won't vote for me. And that must concern me. I know it concerns many other colleagues, particularly in marginal seats, that whilst there are a lot of other issues to be getting on with; we have coming on the blind side - because it wasn't anything that was in any election manifesto - they see this issue that's come up which many constituents, I understand, more than any other issue are saying, we're gonna vote purely on this issue, whatever else happens.

Chris Mason: David Burrowes case is that for opponents of gay marriage, this introduction would, on its own, be enough to put them off voting Conservative. But for those in favour it wouldn't be enough to tempt them to back his party. Both Mr Burrowes and fellow back-bencher Mark Pritchard support civil partnerships. Mr Pritchard says he'll be keeping a keen ear on what the Prime Minister has to say on gay marriage at this year's party conference.

Mark Pritchard: He may be tempted to reiterate some of what he mentioned in his speech last year, or even go further. I think that in the desire to so-called decontaminate the Conservative brand, there are those that might end up damaging the Conservative brand with our natural supporters and voters in the country, and most importantly our grassroots who support us financially and deliver leaflets day in day out around the land. And we need those people, and we shouldn't take them for granted.

Chris Mason: David Burrowes agrees. The Conservative conference in October will be a useful forum for critics of gay marriage, and, he says, offer a telling local lesson.

David Burrowes: The Conference may well be a time when this issue comes up. We're going off to Birmingham, and I know for a fact that in Birmingham it's a representation of diversity - of different faiths. Talking to, and understanding from Birmingham City councillors they are greatly concerned by this issue, because it's those very communities that we want to reach to, that are really concerned about this particular proposal. And so I think it's a challenge.

Chris Mason: The Government says it'll respond to the consultation on gay marriage by the end of the year. And Conservatives have been promised a free vote on any legislation. It could go through with Labour and Lib Dem support. But at what cost to harmony within the Conservative Party?

Martha Kearney: Chris Mason reporting. Well Scotland could become the first part of the UK to introduce gay marriage, after the SNP government announced plans to make the change. So should that be extended to the rest of the UK? Well Matthew Sephton is the chair of LGBTory, a group that works to promote equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people within the Conservative Party. And we heard a fair range of opposition there, didn't we, among Conservative grassroots?

Matthew Sephton: You know, absolutely. There are significant numbers, significant minority numbers, I would say, who are being extremely vocal in their opposition to the Government's proposals. But you only have to look at the latest YouGov polls, produced in conjunction with Stonewall, where 71% of the general public are shown to support the Government's commitment to same-sex marriage.

Martha Kearney: There are different results though if you look at polling within the Conservative Party. A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times found that 30% of Conservative voters said they backed the plan, 43% said they didn't.

Matthew Sephton: Well I think you'll find that, within the Conservative Party, we know that there are other priorities. There are economic priorities, which are extremely important at the moment. We've got a lot to sort out in the economy. I think that there's almost too much fuss being made about this. This is actually a straightforward thing to get through. And as one of the speakers earlier said, don't take the activists for granted. There are a huge number of LGBT activists within the Conservative Party as well. And it's also the case that they shouldn't be taken for granted too.

Martha Kearney: But then we heard the head of the National Convention - the woman who's in charge of the voluntary party - all those people who go out putting leaflets through letter boxes for you - and she said she was very worried about upsetting them.

Matthew Sephton: Well, you know, I mean I'm one of the people who goes out and campaigns regularly and puts leaflets through people's letter boxes, campaigns every week on a regular basis - along with lots of other people who, I know, are totally in favour of the Government's proposal. As I say, I do think it is, that we have got a vocal minority at the moment who have been perhaps too vocal and I know that we, who believe in the Government's proposals, need to be more vocal as well. You know, because at the end of the day, as David Cameron himself said on Tuesday, we need to be on the right side of history. And I think the Government's proposal to introduce same-sex marriage will put us on the right side of history.

Martha Kearney: Matthew Sephton from LGBTory, many thanks.

For a newspaper which regularly campaigns against the 'sexualisation of children' the Daily Mail shows a remarkable lack of concern about the content of its own online presence.

Mail Online is one of the most viewed news sites on the web.

And it intends to stay that way. Part of its strategy is to find popular gossip with lots of raunchy pictures. Never mind the danger of 'sexualising children' - after all that's only what other media outlets get up to.

But the Mail isn't just guilty of hypocrisy. It can't be trusted either.

Take a look at this story about the Olympics.

Amongst all the salacious details and imagery, you'll note the Mail is quite clear that Tom Daley and Tonia Couch are an item - they are 'dating' and they are 'a couple'

But if we now look back to an article in the Mail just days before, we find a rather different piece about Tom Daley. In this piece we learn that Tom and Tonia are nothing more than good friends, and they have been for several years.

The other interesting thing we discover is that Tonia - "a close confidant" of Tom's - was speculating on whether Mr Daley might be involved in a fledgling romance with an American diver called Kassidy Cook.

Clearly there's a lot of nonsense being written about Mr Daley. Could the reason be something to do with what we saw on the recent BBC One documentary - Tom Daley: Diving for Britain

Jamie Cunningham (Tom's agent): China is going to be a very important market for Tom over the next decade. Why? Well, because diving - its home really is in China. As we saw yesterday at the Worlds, they won all the gold medals. This is where, as a sport, it has the biggest impact on the planet. It's very important that we do the right media and commercial work here to help him over the next decade.

Tom at press conference webcast -

Tom Daley: Hi to all the QQ web users.

Questioner: OK, so who do you think is the most beautiful Chinese female athlete?

Tom thought Guo Jingjing was the most beautiful Chinese female athlete, but felt it right to add that she was "too old" for him.

Jamie Cunningham made no secret that he would like to manage Tom Daley's career over the next few years. So, who knows, we might soon be reading that Tom has found himself a girlfriend - and maybe even a Chinese girlfriend at that!

In other Daily Mail news, we see that Nick Grimshaw wasn't phased at all about being in the company of two topless women.

Further progress on coverage of LGBT diversity was evident on Newsround last night. The bulletin at 6.55pm consisted of four stories, the second of which was about plans to amend marriage laws in Scotland. The bulletin was presented by Nel Hedayat.

Nel introducing last night's Newsround
Nel: Scotland is set to become the first part of the UK to introduce gay marriage. At the moment it's illegal for a man to marry another man, or a woman to marry another woman. But the Scottish Government wants to change that. The announcement has been strongly opposed by some religious groups.

So a fairly short report, which included footage from one of the UK's first civil partnerships:-

It was Newsround's failure to report LGBT stories such as the introduction of civil partnerships which led to Newsround Blog.

Possible signs of change, following BBC Director-General Mark Thompson's speech to Stonewall earlier this month:- Newsround's website reports "Gay marriage to be introduced in Scotland"

A lot more will be needed before we can be sure of the BBC's intentions with regard to LGBT diversity. Hopefully there will be reports about Scotland's progress towards marriage equality on Newsround's TV bulletins as well on the website.

Newsround is fine with stories about traditional families.

Michelle, Barack and Malia Obama

As yet, though, there's no sign of the children's channel heeding the Director-General's advice about the topic of 'gay marriage'

The Scottish government's imminent decision on whether to legislate for marriage equality was widely discussed on news channels yesterday. The decision would have been amongst yesterday's main news headlines. But in the end the Scottish cabinet chose to postpone their announcement till later this month. Newsround is pretty adept at avoiding LGBT-related news and CBBC bosses, no doubt, breathed a sigh of relief at the deferment.

Newsround's report of the John Terry trial outcome misled their intended audience.

According to a live report on Friday afternoon, John Terry had told the court that he was only repeating words that he thought he had already heard, and the judge agreed. The Chief Magistrate acquitted, but not because he thought Terry was telling the truth - he didn't. In fact the magistrate, Howard Riddle, said that "Mr Terry's explanation is, certainly under the cold light of forensic examination, unlikely." Mr Riddle also concurred with the prosecution that Anton Ferdinand had been "brave" to give evidence.

This legal case has highlighted the issue of racism in football. Anton's brother, Rio Ferdinand, has been in the forefront of the fight against racism and bullying, though he has been accused of prejudice himself. Some years ago Rio used a homophobic word on Radio 1, and more recently he's been criticised by some for endorsing a race-related term about Ashley Cole - a defence witness in the John Terry trial.

Footballers are often seen as role models. Perhaps they would deserve this accolade more if they stood together to condemn all prejudice-based language, including homophobic language. Had football players like Rio Ferdinand and David Beckham been willing to speak out, it's unlikely this unfortunate case would have arisen.

New spaceship for ordinary people (Sept 2006)

First look at tourist spaceship (Jan 2008)

First look at space trip jet (July 2008)

Passenger space rocket unveiled (Dec 2009)

World's first commercial spaceport christened (Oct 2011)

Space tourism one step closer (July 2012)

Regular Newsround viewers will be familiar with Richard Branson's plans for space tourism. But few will know what the famous British entrepreneur thinks about marriage equality.


Richard Branson talks about marriage equality

After many years of systematic dumbing down children's TV, it looks like BBC senior management has finally woken up to the potential consequences. Speaking at the Stonewall Education for All conference last Thursday, Director-General, Mark Thompson, acknowledged that the Corporation was in danger of seeming to be out of touch or irrelevant. (see previous blog)

The DG identified 'gay marriage' as a topic which needs to be addressed on services for young people. Newsround has never reported on homophobia and discrimination issues which affect gay people.

Mark Thompson said the BBC's commitment to portray lesbian, gay and bisexual life in this country was not an afterthought, but a central concern.

But even as the BBC Director-General was speaking, another conference was underway in Sheffield - the Children's Media Conference 2012. And amongst the delegates was Joe Godwin, the BBC's Director of children's services. He seems to be well on target for achieving a record number of worldwide media conference attendances.

CBBC and CBeebies are listed as Children's Media Conference Foundation Sponsors. Most of the sessions, as usual for media events, were devoted to business opportunities and networking rather than ideological and ethical issues around programme making.

The important topic of child safety was discussed, and Professor Jackie Marsh, Head of the University of Sheffield School of Education, talked about complexities around 'sexualisation,' and the lack of attention to issues such as homophobia and violence against girls. Hopefully session time will be allocated to these topics at media conferences in future.

The BBC does not have a good record on LGBT diversity, so it was quite a pleasant change to see outgoing Director-General, Mark Thompson, take the time to present a speech to Stonewall's 'Education for All' conference on Thursday.

The quotes in this blog are taken from Mark Thompson's final draft, as supplied by the BBC.

Mark began his speech with some remarks about DG-elect, George Entwistle, whom he described as an outstanding journalist and programme-maker, a great creative leader and a brilliant choice for the job. Mark Thompson wanted people to know that he's discussed his speech with Mr Entwistle, and so was speaking on behalf of the future BBC leadership as well as his own. George Entwistle was, said Mr Thompson, "every bit as committed."

The DG spoke about the BBC’s duty to take lesbian, gay and bisexual people as seriously as any other part of its audience, and "to portray them and convey their experiences and perspectives with as much conviction and fairness as we would anyone else." He added "we have an obligation to serve every section of society fairly and impartially and sensitively."

The BBC must now meet this challenge more energetically and urgently than it has in the past, said Mr Thompson, paying tribute to those who take the BBC to task for its shortcomings.

Mark Thompson: "A broader sense of justice and fairness is more prevalent today in the UK than ever before. And the BBC’s handling of all minorities - and certainly of lesbians, gays and bisexuals - is an important moral marker for much of our wider audience too."

Younger viewers, said Mr Thompson, are particularly sensitive to "anything which looks like less than fair and equal treatment" of minorities. If the BBC failed to serve any significant section of British society "it will start to look out of touch, and ultimately irrelevant."

Mark Thompson: " ..it’s a striking fact that in 2012 we are living in a country where a coalition government led by a Conservative Prime Minister is leading the charge on the case for instituting gay marriage. If the BBC wants to keep up – especially with its younger audiences, but also with its audience as a whole – it needs to address the topic."

Much of the rest of Mr Thompson's speech was devoted to the findings of the BBC LGB consultation in 2010, and to how well the corporation is doing. He ended with a commitment to portray lesbian, gay and bisexual life in this country in all its own diversity and richness which, said the Director-General, would be a "central concern" rather than just an afterthought.

Today is the centenary of the birth of Alan Turing.

Breaking the Code is an excellent BBC dramatisation of his life and work, made in 1996. Good performance by Derek Jacobi, though he was a little too old to portray the wartime Turing.





Alan Turing: Colleagues share their memories

With all the romance on CBBC in mind - you know programmes like Wingin' It - Newsround Blog readers might be interested in an email I wrote to the Director of Children's, Joe Godwin, at the start of last year (10th January 2011) -

Hi Joe,

Many thanks for your email at the weekend.

I'm pleased you asked about my Alan Turing drama idea. And yes, I was thinking of a dramatisation of Turing's life for children's TV. I watched the remake of Just William over the holiday period, and noticed that romance and relationships were quite prominent. We see William's brother and sister dating, and William's teacher saying that "our society is founded on a man and a woman wanting to be together." By the fourth episode William's antipathy towards girls has gone, and he wants to be friends with Dorinda.

Of course kids have crushes at the age of 11, or sometimes at an earlier age. CBBC recognised that fact with programmes like Eliot Kid and Little Howard's Big Question, but I doubt that those stories turned any gay children straight. Using the same reasoning, a children's drama about an LGB person is not going to alter the sexual orientation of straight kids. However making children's TV inclusive is likely to encourage tolerance, as was recognised in past storylines in CBBC programmes such as Byker Grove and Grange Hill.

Alan Turing is an apposite subject for a British children's drama for 2012, which is the centenary of his birth and the year of the London Olympics. Alan was a top class runner as well as mathematician, codebreaker, gay rights pioneer and a senior figure in the development of the computer. He succumbed to the prejudices of a bygone age.

Turing's teenage crush on Christopher Morcom was no different to, say, six-year-old Eliot Kid's crush on Loretta or Little Howard's feelings towards Little Susan. And if the BBC is to represent everyone, with no group underserved, it needs to deliver for LGBT children and teenagers. What better luminary could there be for the CBBC to celebrate in 2012?

I've had a few (sketchy) ideas for a dramatisation, and I suspect that Andrew Hodges would be happy to act as a consultant if you want to take the project further as I hope you will.

If you've been keeping up with my blog, you'll know that I also had an idea for MOTD Kickabout next month.

Best wishes,

Joe wrote back on 24th January 2011, mentioning the move to Manchester, the Sadie J controversy on Digital Spy forums and Ballet Boys episode from the My Life documentary series. There was no mention of my idea re: Alan Turing.

This partly eaten apple with inscription "In the memory of a genius" is taken from a Newsround report last October.


What does the apple have to do with the world of computers?

For those who don't know, codebreaker, computer pioneer and all-round genius Alan Turing was a victim of homophobic laws in 50's Britain. He committed suicide in 1954 by eating an apple laced with cyanide.

But if you thought the picture was from a report about Alan Turing, you were mistaken. In fact it was from a report about the death of Steve Jobs. Over the last year or so, Newsround has had quite a lot to say about Steve Jobs and his achievements. In this report we can see Steve sculptured in sand.

Alan Turing should be a household name. So will CBBC be doing anything to help ensure that young people know about his life and work? His centenary is only a matter of days away, so we'll soon have an answer. The smart money is on there being no mention of Turing.

Free speech and censorship

When 9-year-old Martha Payne was told she could no longer take photographs of school dinners for her Never Seconds blog, it didnt't take long for people to sit up and take notice. What right did Argyll and Bute Council have to ban Martha from just taking a few photos at lunch time?

Within hours the Council relented and Martha was told that she could, after all, take the pictures needed for her blog.

A similar free speech U-turn took place in America last week after 10-year-old Kameron Slade won a competition in his class. As a winner Kameron was entitled to make a speech to the whole school, but when the school found out that he intended to present a speech in favour of marriage equality, the principal made clear that Kameron needed to either change the topic or be removed from the contest.

As with Martha Payne, there was a backlash against the ban, and as a result the authorities have said Kameron will, after all, be allowed to speak on his topic of choice. He will deliver his speech on marriage equality at a school assembly tomorrow.

Whereas the school dinner blog U-turn was reported by Newsround on Friday afternoon's TV bulletins, I think it's a very safe bet that there won't be a report about the other U-turn any time soon. Kids who watch CBBC might suspect that their news and entertainment programmes are being unreasonably censored by BBC bosses. So for the benefit of kids in the UK, this is what Kameron will say to his school:

Iain Stewart MP talking about his own experiences of homophobic bullying and about the need to do more to combat homophobia. From a debate this afternoon in Westminster Hall

Prime Minister David Cameron has said that he wants forced marriage to be made illegal. It was the main news item on Newsround at 3.25pm yesterday afternoon. Fiona Dwyer of Women's Aid talked to Nel about the issues involved.

Transcript

Nel: Fiona Dwyer works for Women's Aid which supports people who are affected by forced marriages. Fiona, thank you for joining us. I want to first know: what is the difference between a 'forced marriage' and an 'arranged marriage'?

Fiona: Well with an arranged marriage it's where your parents or your relatives think that they've found someone who would be perfect for you to marry, and then you meet this person and you think "Oh great," and you want to get married. Whereas a forced marriage is where your parents or your family - they bully you either physically or emotionally - and force you into getting married. So the main difference between the two is you have a choice with an arranged marriage.

Nel: Whereas a forced marriage you just don't have that choice. And what are the laws that are going to be coming in next year? Will they offer more protection for victims of forced marriages?

Fiona: Well they should do, but - and we are very happy that the Government is against forced marriages - but we're also worried that because so many people don't tell at the moment, that even more people won't, because they're afraid that their families will go to prison.

Nel: So you're worried, as other charities are as well, that because the laws are stricter that it will mean that less victims come forward?

Fiona: Yes, there is a worry that many more young people - they won't tell because they're worried that their families will get into trouble with the police.

Nel: OK. And what should someone do if they think that their friend or someone they know is being forced into a marriage?

Fiona: Well, if they're worried they should contact the police, or they should contact a helpline like the NSPCC, or they should talk to one of their teachers - but also letting them know that they shouldn't tell the family.

Nel: But no matter what they should talk to somebody?

Fiona: They should definitely talk to someone. That's the most important way to get support.

Nel: OK, Fiona, thank you so much for joining me today.

BBC Director of Children's, Joe Godwin, will shortly jet off to the Banff World Media Festival. He's scheduled to appear at a session on Tuesday afternoon - Top Kids Broadcasters: Open For Business.

Of course, this won't be Mr Godwin's first visit to a media festival.

Taking a look at the breathtaking views in Banff, it comes as no surprise that the Director of Children's thinks he's got the best job in the world.

Whether Joe Godwin's excursions are value for the public's money is still unclear, despite a Freedom of Information enquiry last year. Also unclear is how British kids benefit from Mr Godwin's visits to all these mediafests.

One thing we do know is that, so far, the media sector has proved deeply averse to genuine equality. A diverse-friendly BBC would undoubtedly help in the fight against homophobia and homophobic bullying. An unfortunate and shameful missed opportunity came in a session about heroes and superheroes at last year's Kidscreen Summit, where the idea of having a gay hero/superhero was never even mentioned. And later that year BBC children's TV broadcast a series about the young Leonardo da Vinci, in which Leonardo's romantic proclivities were misrepresented to bolster heteronormativity.

There are, however, some positive signs on the horizon.

DC Comics has just confirmed that one of their superheroes, the Green Lantern, is gay. The media/showbiz industry is thought by many as supportive of LGBT people and issues, but with a small number of exceptions, as this blog has mentioned more than once before, that couldn't be further from the truth.

A few celebrities have come out in favour of equality, but most haven't. For example, Jonathan Ross: we know he has a history of mocking gay men, and that he's content for The Sun to taunt Roy Hodgson about rhotacism, but what does he think about marriage equality? With a lesbian daughter you'd think he would want to speak out in favour of that issue.

And despite being a huge comic fan - Jonathan likes to visit Comic Con in the USA - he's still yet to comment on DC Comics' Green Lantern. It's not as if he hasn't been asked.

Original Green Lantern from 1940

Gareth Malone, conductor of Military Wives' chart topper Wherever You Are has told Radio Times about the homophobia he's encountered in life.

Although Gareth Malone hasn't exactly been secretive about his personal life - he has a wife and child - Malone was dismayed that his media career brought back memories of school bullying.

Gareth Malone: “It was slightly disappointing to find that after leaving school and leaving all that behind me from the age of about 15 to 30 and then coming into television and discovering, ‘Oh, right, everyone is just as juvenile as the kids at school were” 

Without wishing to endorse violence, slightly-built Malone nevertheless feels that he should have 'lamped' the school bullies: ".. looking back I kind of wish I had."

Asked if he was offended by the assumption that he is gay, Malone replied: “I've sort of got used to it. I suppose if I took the time to really think about it, I’d like to say, ‘It’s my business and I'm married for a start’, but not really. Really, that’s one demon I’ve exorcised.”

Newsround's website today: MPs have called for body image lessons to be taught in schools. It is the main cause of bullying in schools.

Racism has been in the news again, with a BBC investigation finding that almost 88,000 incidents in UK schools were recorded between 2007 and 2011. Wednesday's Newsround included a recorded interview with 14 year old Khadeja, who found it hard to get through each day.

Ore told viewers that work is being done to stamp out racism in schools. Classes all over the country are being visited by campaigners who teach them how to avoid racist behaviour and comments.

Laura Pidcock, from Show Racism the Red Card said that "if something is based on skin colour, religion, nationality or way of life, then that is racism." Laura, who self-identifies as a feminist, failed to say whether she would also include prejudice relating to sexual orientation - homophobia. Show Racism the Red Card's  FAQ doesn't (at the time of writing) refer to homophobia, though there is now a brief section about the topic on SRTRC's website.

Stonewall's 7th Annual Education for All Conference 2012 takes place at the start of July. As far as I'm aware Newsround has never reported on homophobic bullying, but this year BBC Director-General is one of the speakers at Stonewall's conference. Stonewall says that a major new report about homophobia in Britain’s schools will be released at the event.

On 3rd April 2012 I submitted a Freedom of Information request to the BBC. This is the BBC's response (received 17th May 2012) to a question about BBC Director-General Mark Thompson's meetings with Members of Parliament.


Freedom of Information Act 2000 – RFI20120369

Part 1 of your request
Please find listed below details of meetings and phone calls which Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC, has had with MP’s over the last 18 months.


01/11/2010  Meeting with Ivan Lewis MP
03/11/2010  Meeting with Frank Field MP & Lord Sainsbury
04/11/2010  Telephone call with Jeremy Hunt MP
30/11/2010  Meeting with Ivan Lewis MP & Ian Murray MP
09/12/2010  Meeting with Jeremy Hunt MP
14/12/2010  Meeting at Foreign Office with: William Hague MP & Jeremy Hunt MP
15/03/2011  Meeting with Ed Vaizey MP
22/06/2011  Meeting with Daniel Hannan MEP
28/06/2011  Meeting with Jeremy Hunt MP
04/07/2011  Phone call with Alex Salmond MSP
10/08/2011  Phone call with Alex Salmond MSP
07/09/2011  Meeting with Cheryl Gillan MP
17/10/2011  Meeting with Bill Cash MP
03/11/2011  Meeting with Carwyn Jones AM
05/10/2011  Phone call with Jeremy Hunt MP
24/10/2011  Meeting with Jeremy Hunt MP
22/11/2011  Meeting with Alex Salmond MSP
07/12/2011  Meeting with Nick Clegg MP
11/01/2012  Meeting with Ed Milliband MP
19/01/2012  Meeting with David Cameron
24/01/2012  Meeting with Jeremy Hunt MP
31/01/2012  Meeting with Philip Davies MP
06/02/2012  Meeting with Jeremy Hunt MP
06/02/2012  Meeting with Menzies Campbell MP
09/02/2012  Meeting with Arlene Foster MLA
17/02/2012  Meeting with Gisela Stuart MP
27/02/2012  Meeting with Nadine Dorries MP and Tessa Munt MP
19/03/2012  Phone call with Jeremy Hunt MP
19/03/2012  Phone call with Don Foster MP
20/03/2012  Meeting with Labour Front Bench DCMS team Baroness Maggie Jones, Lord Wilf Stevenson, Lord Ray Collins followed by meeting with backbench group.

In addition to the above meetings and phone calls, Mark Thompson hosted a number of events and briefings with question and answer sessions during the period specified in your request. These events include lunches, dinners and receptions and the details are set out in the table below. Such events are standard across the industry and used for a wide range of reasons; from developing partnerships with external organisations and institutions, to publicising new programming and building relationships with our external stakeholders. Guests invited to these events represent a broad cross-section of community representatives, opinion-formers and the media. It is not always possible to provide a definitive list of attendees for these types of events as many MPs and Peers do not RSVP to invites and a record is not kept on the day.

The BBC is careful to ensure corporate hospitality events provide value for money and in recent years, has significantly decreased the amount of corporate hospitality we offer.

Please note that the dinners held at Mark Thompson’s home on 2 October 2010 and 20 November 2010 were at no cost to the BBC.


02/10/2010 Private dinner at Mark Thompson’s home – guests included Jeremy Hunt MP

02/11/2010 MP Briefing, attendees:
Luciana Berger MP
Gemma Doyle MP
Jack Dromey MP
Bill Esterson MP
Lisa Nandy MP
Alison McGovern MP
Catherine McKinnell MP
Ian Mearns MP
Tessa Pearce MP

09/11/2010 MP Briefing, attendees:
Andrea Leadsom MP
Nick De Bois MP
Damian Hinds MP
Dan Byles MP
Jo Johnson MP
Karen Lumley MP
Mark Garnier MP
Michael Ellis MP
Richard Graham MP
Simon Kirby MP
Stuart Andrew MP

20/11/2010 Private dinner at Mark Thompson’s home – guests included Ben Bradshaw MP

07/12/2010 MP Briefing, attendees:
Alistair Carmichael MP
Norman Baker MP
Don Foster MP
Duncan Hames MP
Steve Webb MP
Andrew George MP
Peers:
Lord Addington
Baroness Kathryn Parminter
Baroness Neuberger

18/01/2011 MP Briefing, attendees:
Rushanara Ali MP
Tom Blenkinsop MP
Pat Glass MP
Graham Jones MP
Graeme Morrice MP
Bridget Phillipson MP
Emma Reynolds MP
Jonathan Reynolds MP
Liz Kendall MP
Pamela Nash MP
Anas Sarwar MP
Gavin Shuker MP
Owen Smith MP
Valerie Vaz MP

12/07/2011 BBC All Party Parliamentary Group - topic of discussion: BBC Annual Report

09/09/2011 Northwest MPs Visit to MediaCityUK, attendees:
Ian Lewis MP
Hazel Blears MP
Paul Goggins MP
Andrew Miller MP
Yvonne Fovargue MP

18/10/2011 MP Briefing, attendees:
Dame Anne Begg MP
Luciana Berger MP
Dr Therese Coffey MP
Damian Collins MP
Paul Farrelly MP
Tim Farron MP
Helen Goodman MP
Louise Mensch MP
Mark Menzies MP
Austin Mitchell MP
Owen Smith MP
Rory Stewart MP
Peers:
Baroness Bonham-Carter
Lord Bragg
Baroness Fookes
Lord Fowler
Lord Glasgow
Lord Grocott
Baroness Howe
Lord Inglewood
Lord Jones of Cheltenham
Lord Lipsey
Baroness Neville-Jones
Lord Newby
Baroness Scott
Lord Stevenson
Lord Storey

02/11/2011 BBC All Party Parliamentary Group - topic of discussion: Delivering Quality First

28/02/2012 MP Briefing, attendees:
Luciana Berger MP
Dr Therese Coffey MP
Damian Collins MP
Philip Davies MP
Paul Farrelly MP
Don Foster MP
Helen Goodman MP
Tessa Jowell MP
Mark Menzies MP
Gerry Sutcliffe MP
Rob Wilson MP
Peers:
Lord Birt
Baroness Bonham-Carter
Lord Bragg
Baroness Deech
Lord Gordon of Strathblane
Baroness Howe
Lord Inglewood
Rt Rev Graham James
Lord Skelmersdale
Lord Smith

Mark Thompson also attended a number of externally hosted events, the details of which are provided in the table below. As the BBC did not host these events no further details about attendance are held. This list of events does not include Mr Thompson’s appearances at Parliamentary Committees and Hearings, for example, Select Committee and House of Lords Communications Committee.


16/03/2011 Attended creative industries round table lunch hosted by Vince Cable, MP and Jeremy Hunt MP
31/03/2011 Attended event hosted by Ed Vaizey MP
08/06/2011 Attended Founders Forum reception at Downing Street
14/09/2011 Attended dinner hosted by Jeremy Hunt MP at the RTS in Cambridge