Former BBC director-general Greg Dyke has accused the Blair Government of 'systematic bullying' and 'intimidation' of the BBC over its coverage of the Iraq war. To back his case, he has released a copy of a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair providing evidence of the ill feeling that existed between No 10 Downing St and the corporation even before the BBC's controversial report claiming the Government's dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was 'sexed up'.

Mr Dyke said that Lord Hutton 'completely failed to acknowledge the pressure that No 10 had been putting on us'. He said Mr Campbell [Blair government's top spin doctor] had been waging a 'war of attrition' with the corporation 'at a time when the BBC was trying to report a very difficult story fairly and properly.

He revealed that Mr Campbell had demanded the withdrawal from Baghdad of BBC reporters such as Rageh Omaar, claiming they were 'compromised'. He said Mr Campbell had sent letters to Richard Sambrook, the BBC's director of news, attacking the BBC's coverage of Iraq 'week in and week out for a period last year'. 'It was a classic case of the Downing Street press office trying to intimidate the BBC,' he added.

Mr Dyke wrote: 'I do not mean to be rude, but having faced the biggest ever public demonstration in this country and the biggest ever backbench rebellion against a sitting government by its own supporters, would you not agree that your communications advisers are not best placed to advise whether or not the BBC has got the balance right between support and dissent?'

Mr Dyke went on to make a trenchant defence of the BBC's duty to be impartial. 'You have been engaged in a difficult battle fighting for your particular view of the world to be accepted and, quite understandably, you want that to be reported. We, however, have a different role in society. Our role in these circumstances is to try to give a balanced picture.'

He insisted the Government had gone beyond its 'legitimate' right to complain about inaccurate stories. 'Journalism is an imperfect profession and if we make mistakes, as we inevitably do, under my leadership we will always say we were wrong and apologise. However, for you to question the whole of the BBC's journalistic output across a wide range of radio, television and online services because you are concerned about particular stories which don't favour your view is unfair.'

In his statement at the weekend, Mr Dyke said it was in the context of a 'continuous barrage of complaints' from Mr Campbell that the BBC received his letters of June 5 and June 12 complaining about Gilligan's Today program broadcast on May 29. Mr Dyke said the Hutton report had failed to acknowledge this pressure.

In an attack on Campbell's probity, he continues in the statement: 'It is also important to put these letters in another context. On many occasions in my time as director-general, the Downing Street press office under Mr Campbell denied stories that later turned out to be true. I could list half a dozen. There was never a certainty that a denial from the Government's director of information meant the story wasn't true. It often meant that the Downing Street press office simply didn't want it reported.'

[UK] Sunday Times reported in The Australian 2feb04 [edited]