Blue Peter is evil, Hitler was imaginative and BBC bosses are munchkins

Published on Wednesday 8 October 2008 23:13

(So claims SNP's Chris Harvie)

A NATIONALIST MSP yesterday branded popular children's programme Blue Peter "evil" and praised Adolf Hitler for being "imaginative".

Professor Christopher Harvie, a list MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife and well-known academic historian, made his comments during a debate on Scottish broadcasting yesterday in Holyrood.

His remarks have been described as "loopy" and fuelled claims about how "out of touch" some Nationalist MSPs are.

This is not the first time Prof Harvie has courted controversy. Earlier this year, he described Lockerbie as "a dump" and castigated Scottish youths for sporting "what must be the ugliest clothes worn by anyone on the entire continent".

Last night, however, Prof Harvie claimed his comments in the debate had been taken out of context. During his speech, he also described BBC bosses as "munchkins".

He criticised a rise in "huge bonuses" for celebrities such as Jonathan Ross and Jeremy Clarkson and complained "peanuts" were left for academics.

Prof Harvie added: "This has not been accompanied by an increase in honesty, objectivity and respect for its audience. Just think of the evil-doing of Blue Peter."

He offered no further explanation, but went on to mention Adolf Hitler and BBC founder Lord Reith. "Colonel John Reith of the BBC grasped radio's capacity to inform, educate and entertain. Adolf Hitler saw it as a rabble-rouser," he said.

"Of the two, Hitler was actually the more imaginative because German broadcasting didn't even exist at that point."

And he warned the shape of broadcasting had to change, turning his fire on the industry regulator Ofcom.

"To leave Scotland in the hands of the present metropolitan munchkins of Ofcom and the BBC is like leaving one's parents watching daytime TV."

Speaking to The Scotsman, Prof Harvie pointed out his apparent praise for Hilter's imagination had been accompanied by describing the dictator as "a crazy racist".

He said he was simply highlighting the historical fact that Hitler introduced widespread use of the radio to Germany.

He added: "These people have just taken jests I made completely out of context.

"My reference to Blue Peter was simply to them fixing a competition in 2007. Here's one I fixed earlier, sort of thing."

And he was unrepentant about his criticism of the BBC, which he went on to describe as "sinister".

He added: "They treat themselves as members of a corporation rather than that something that is supposed to provide a public service."

Prof Harvie's comments received a mixed response from political opponents.

Margaret Smith, a Lib Dem MSP, told the chamber: "Today's was an interesting contribution. One could only guess what Adolf would have done if he had access to sticky-back plastic."

Her party's chief whip, Mike Rumbles, said: "Scotland deserves better from its elected representatives and this just shows how loopy and out of touch some of the SNP MSPs really are."

However, Prof Harvie won some support from Tory Ted Brocklebank. He said: "I agreed with a lot of Chris Harvie's entertaining contribution."