441:. Darling said that "The Government's actions are oppressive, as has been shown by their treatment of broadcasting. We saw the spectacle of police being sent to raid the BBC headquarters in Glasgow in the middle of the night. ... We saw the Zircon tapes seized as an elaborate blind." Darling said that the cabinet episode concerned "the election campaign of 1983, and the fact that the Government sought to undermine and spy on the citizens of this country. Their object was to prevent the programme from being shown, and the Zircon affair was a blind."
154:, responsible for overseeing government expenditures. It had been agreed between Parliament and the British government that expensive military projects should be subject to scrutiny by the committee, and Campbell felt that Sheldon's ignorance of the Zircon project was evidence of the violation of this agreement. The concealment of Zircon, which had an estimated cost of £500 million (equivalent to £1.9 billion in 2023), from the committee mirrored the parliamentary secrecy over a previous defence project, the
360:, who wished to see the episode, but were opposed by a civil servant from the Ministry of Defence. The dispute was ruled upon by the Speaker, who ruled that the episode could not be shown on the parliamentary site, it was instead screened nearby. The governors remained in a state of disquiet, with Hussey complaining to Milne that the episode should never have been made. Hussey and the Board of Governors demanded Milne's resignation on 29 January.
25:
225:, the Assistant Director-General of the BBC, had written to Milne at his home, saying that the Zircon episode should not be transmitted. Protheroe was responsible for supervising journalism at the BBC, and was the BBC's member on the D-Notice Committee. Protheroe believed that the Zircon episode would damage national security after speaking to the
232:
Initial cuts of all six programmes in the series were then viewed by Milne, who later showed the series to the governors. The governors subsequently felt that, barring a few changes, the series would be suitable for broadcast, except for the Zircon episode. However, not all governors were as opposed
190:
series was announced at the launch of BBC 2's autumn schedule. According to the official history of the D-Notice
Committee, the committee's secretary Rear Admiral W. A. Higgins had been prompted solely by the appearance of the series in the BBC's autumn 1986 publicity, and was not himself then aware
367:
organisations, which arranged public screenings around the UK. The government was now placed in a difficult situation. The
Attorney General stayed his hand and the matter soon faded in the public interest. The Committee of Privileges subsequently recommended that screening the video would fall
166:, had been recently appointed the BBC Vice-Chairman. Barnett had withdrawn from a planned interview with Campbell for the programme after his BBC appointment, upset at the nature of the questioning that Sheldon had faced, who had accused Campbell of setting him up.
291:'s premises in Glasgow which lasted for 28 hours. The Controller of BBC Scotland, Pat Chalmers was questioned by Special Branch police, and Protheroe was arrested and questioned by the Strathclyde police.
255:
was obtained by the
Attorney General on January 21 restraining Campbell from talking or writing about the contents of the episode. On 22 January, Campbell published an article in the
198:. Hussey had been recommended as chairman of the BBC Board of Governors by Conservative government ministers. Opposition to Campbell from governors at the meeting came from
214:
46:
261:
against which the government issued an injunction. Campbell's article was sourced to a former employee of GCHQ and four unnamed defence officials, and the
128:
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574:
326:
233:
to the episode as
Protheroe was. The governors held two further meetings before Christmas 1986, at which Milne was "hounded unpleasantly over
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925:
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139:
33:
499:
Nicholas
Wilkinson, "Secrecy and the Media: The Official History of the United Kingdom's D-Notice system", Routledge, London, 2009,
920:
379:
article by
Campbell stated Zircon had been replaced by a U.S. off-the-shelf satellite, under British control, launched by a U.S.
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262:
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and was, therefore, not protected by privilege. They further recommended that the
Speaker's actions had been wholly proper.
415:
266:
226:
356:, though all BBC staff had been ordered to return copies of the programme. The Zircon project fell under the remit of the
900:
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managed to obtain a video of the Zircon documentary and arranged a screening of it to MPs in the House of
Commons. The
869:
837:
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147:
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276:, Special Branch raided Campbell's London home, those of his researchers Jolyon Jenkins and Patrick Forbes, and the
206:
operative, who said that
Campbell was a "destroyer" who the BBC should never have employed, and the former diplomat
410:
committees. It was also held back from broadcast, and has not, as of 2013, ever been shown. The broadcast of the
915:
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in 1991, in a season of programming about censorship. Instead the episode was remade using
Campbell's scripts.
138:
to reveal the existence of Zircon, but found while researching the programme in mid-1986 that the head of the
407:
890:
885:
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203:
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237:". Milne finally made a decision not to broadcast the Zircon episode during the Christmas holiday.
433:, then in opposition, claimed that the true reason for the Zircon affair was to distract from the
131:
Ronald Mason in August 1986 he mentioned the Zircon Project (regarded as "exceptionally secret").
346:
319:
87:
38:
210:. Hussey subsequently expressed the negative views of the governors to Milne after the meeting.
469:
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342:
315:
300:
159:
83:
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to find their identities to establish whether the Official Secrets Act had been breached.
8:
352:
With the help of sympathetic MPs Campbell tried to privately screen the programme in the
853:
Bradley, A. W. (Winter 1987). "Parliamentary privilege, Zircon and national security".
418:. The BBC subsequently rejected Campbell's attempt to buy the episode for broadcast on
338:
330:
284:
75:
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426:
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In a parliamentary debate on civil liberties and the Bill of Rights on 15 June 1989,
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to prevent the video's screening, but the application was dismissed on the basis of
699:
Secrecy and the Media: The Official History of the United Kingdom's D-Notice System
430:
218:
195:
124:
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364:
846:
Bradley, A. W. (Spring 1987). "Parliamentary privilege and the Zircon affair".
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143:
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334:
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Frustrated, the Attorney General organised a briefing on the matter for the
251:
on 18 January 1987, with the headline "BBC Gag on £500m Defence secret". An
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247:
112:
606:
70:
was an incident in 1986 and 1987 caused by the planned broadcast on the
363:
However, by this time, copies of the video had been obtained by various
333:, based on confidentiality stemming from their common membership of the
194:
A meeting of the BBC governors was held on 13 November 1986, chaired by
115:
to present and research a six part, half-hour documentary series called
345:
was to be used for the screening of the video, pending a report by the
303:
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91:
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146:, knew nothing of the project. The Public Accounts Committee is a
24:
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120:
74:
of a television programme about the ultimately cancelled
71:
272:
Under the authority of a warrant under section 9 of the
695:
107:
In November 1985 the Scottish investigative journalist
215:
Director of the Government Communications Headquarters
123:
became aware that a BBC Scotland crew were filming at
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The matter now becoming public knowledge, opposition
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129:
Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence
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470:"BBC Scotland television producer Brian Barr dies"
510:
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82:series. It raised many important issues in the
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245:The Zircon affair was publicly revealed by
221:, on 5 December 1986, on the same day that
127:, and when Campbell interviewed the former
102:
529:
495:
493:
414:episode was cancelled due to the imminent
134:Campbell had planned to use an episode of
241:Revelation of issue and government action
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655:
182:, later wrote that the Secretary of the
49:of all important aspects of the article.
862:D. G.: Memoirs of a British Broadcaster
827:
696:Nicholas John Wilkinson (28 May 2009).
523:
490:
462:
878:
186:made "remonstration noises" after the
45:Please consider expanding the lead to
763:Campbell, Duncan (22 December 1989).
734:Constitutional and Administrative Law
656:Campbell, Duncan (27 February 1987).
76:Zircon signals intelligence satellite
97:
18:
730:Bradley, A.W.; Ewing, K.D. (1997).
13:
926:United Kingdom defence procurement
738:. Addison Wesley Longman. p.
390:
14:
937:
791:
572:
162:. The previous head of the PAC,
23:
821:
327:Speaker of the House of Commons
283:s offices. On 31 January 1987,
37:may be too short to adequately
921:Politics of the United Kingdom
314:, sought an injunction in the
170:Intervention by BBC management
47:provide an accessible overview
1:
635:"The Zircon Affair - 1986-7"
456:
7:
444:
295:Screening to MPs and others
176:Director-General of the BBC
10:
942:
901:1987 in the United Kingdom
896:1986 in the United Kingdom
794:"The Zircon Affair 1986–7"
607:"Obituary: Alasdair Milne"
575:"The Zircon Affair 1986–7"
383:on 4 September 1989 (U.S.
341:ruled that no part of the
119:, produced by Brian Barr.
86:, particularly concerning
78:, as part of the six-part
398:The sixth episode of the
370:proceedings in parliament
274:Official Secrets Act 1911
158:programme to enhance the
140:Public Accounts Committee
832:. London: Harper Press.
406:, and focused on secret
358:Defence Select Committee
103:Development of programme
828:Aldrich, R. J. (2011).
347:Committee of Privileges
320:parliamentary privilege
265:instructed police from
191:of the Zircon Project.
160:Polaris nuclear missile
88:parliamentary privilege
16:1986–87 British scandal
916:Journalistic scandals
416:1987 general election
343:Palace of Westminster
658:"The cost of Zircon"
287:conducted a raid of
111:was commissioned by
84:British constitution
891:1987 in British law
886:1986 in British law
857:. pp. 488–495.
806:on 5 September 2012
587:on 5 September 2012
227:Ministry of Defence
860:Milne, A. (1989).
402:series was titled
331:Bernard Weatherill
285:Strathclyde Police
184:D-Notice Committee
906:BBC controversies
713:978-1-134-05254-7
706:. pp. 415–.
478:. 29 October 2013
451:BBC controversies
98:The Zircon affair
64:
63:
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799:. Archived from
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765:"Spy in the sky"
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615:. 9 January 2013
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580:. Archived from
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431:Alistair Darling
354:House of Commons
337:. That day, the
308:Attorney General
282:
263:Attorney General
219:Peter Marychurch
196:Marmaduke Hussey
152:House of Commons
148:select committee
125:RAF Menwith Hill
92:"gagging orders"
59:
56:
50:
27:
19:
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850:. pp. 1–3.
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109:Duncan Campbell
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32:This article's
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439:Secret Society
400:Secret Society
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312:Michael Havers
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267:Special Branch
242:
239:
235:Secret Society
223:Alan Protheroe
213:Milne met the
188:Secret Society
180:Alasdair Milne
171:
168:
144:Robert Sheldon
136:Secret Society
117:Secret Society
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80:Secret Society
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41:the key points
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808:. Retrieved
801:the original
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668:. Retrieved
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582:the original
524:Aldrich 2011
480:. Retrieved
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164:Lord Barnett
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34:lead section
437:episode of
200:Daphne Park
880:Categories
855:Public Law
848:Public Law
777:14 January
670:14 January
641:14 January
375:In 1989 a
316:High Court
304:Robin Cook
253:injunction
704:Routledge
507:, p. 413.
457:Footnotes
420:Channel 4
385:Labor Day
381:Titan 34D
156:Chevaline
39:summarize
619:21 April
612:BBC News
482:18 April
445:See also
368:outside
810:10 July
591:10 July
435:Cabinet
412:Cabinet
408:Cabinet
404:Cabinet
394:episode
392:Cabinet
339:Speaker
150:of the
142:(PAC),
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427:Labour
310:, Sir
804:(PDF)
797:(PDF)
768:(PDF)
661:(PDF)
637:. BBC
585:(PDF)
578:(PDF)
281:'
911:GCHQ
866:ISBN
834:ISBN
830:GCHQ
812:2017
779:2021
744:ISBN
708:ISBN
672:2021
643:2021
621:2014
593:2017
501:ISBN
484:2014
174:The
121:GCHQ
90:and
66:The
740:652
429:MP
387:).
204:MI6
72:BBC
882::
864:.
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702:.
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349:.
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301:MP
229:.
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