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The British public broadcaster, which is often criticized by conservatives for its political slant, will not allow a statue of George Orwell to grace the entrance of its new headquarters, reportedly because the idea is too partisan.
Orwell, who worked briefly at the BBC, earned international renown through his writing, aiming his pen at imperialism,unbridled capitalism, the Spanish civil war,revolutionary excess, and totalitarianism. In 2008 he was named the second-best British writer since the war, trailing only Philip Larkin in a list compiled by the Times of London.
But in spite of his fame -- and a range of targets that has seen him claimed by both the right and the left -- outgoing BBC Director-General Mark Thompson was apparently quick to dismiss the idea of Orwell's statue at the broadcaster's entrance.
"I met Mark Thompson at a BBC reception and mentioned the project," Baroness Joan Bakewell, a supporter of the George Orwell Memorial Trust, told the Daily Telegraph. "He said, 'Oh no, Joan, we can't possibly. It's far too left-wing an idea'."
Mr. Thompson is away and has not commented. The broadcaster insists that the spot being proposed is already being used and that another place, off BBC property, can surely be found.
The compromise amused some, who saw it as a face-saving hypocrisy. But others suggested the decision was inadvertently correct.
"A doughty warrior in the cause of liberty, free thought and political prose as clear as a glass pane, Orwell deserves his statue all right -- but ... today's BBC - aka the Ministry of Truth -- might not be the best place for it after all," Nigel Jones wrote at the Daily Mail.
Ah, but that's the kind of thing The BBC do best.
People in this country couldn't listen to rock music on the radio 'til 1967 - they had to listen to it via offshore pirates, yet hardly a week goes by without a BBC documentary along the lines of "Our Wonderful Rock n' Roll Years" - never mentioning the aforesaid fact. Or "Our Wonderful Reggae Years" - never mentioning that The BBC had a de facto ban on reggae throughout the 1970's. Or: "Our Wonderful Punk Years", never mentioning the fact that they banned The Sex Pistols, and the charts were rigged so the four unloveable spikey-tops wouldn't show up at number one.
Evidently, Orwell's a bit too hot for them.