Jowell holds out olive branch to McConnell

Published on Wednesday 22 May 2002 01:00

THE Scottish Executive last night claimed it had emerged the victor of a power struggle with Westminster after Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, caved in to demands to give Scotland a bigger say in the future of British broadcasting.

Ms Jowell staged her partial climbdown after The Scotsman revealed she had ignored appeals from Jack McConnell to give Scotland a seat on the board of Ofcom, the new media regulator. After a series of urgent meetings across Whitehall yesterday, the Culture Secretary ordered aides to announce that Ofcom would now have a full-time office north of the Border.

The regulator’s six-strong board will also be asked to take advice from a committee of media experts picked by the Executive in conjunction with the Scotland Office.

Ms Jowell’s concessions will go some way to dampening accusations that the exclusively metropolitan make-up of Ofcom could put in jeopardy the future of regional broadcasting in Scotland.

A senior Executive source said: "There was panic at the Department of Culture after it became clear Jowell was ignoring the First Minister. This is good, but we will be pressing for more."

The Scottish National Party dismissed the concessions as "pretty shabby window dressing" and renewed its calls for broadcasting to be devolved.

Michael Russell MSP, who has called for a debate in parliament on the Ofcom issue, said: "This is avoiding the issue by trying to find a way of placating Scottish opinion without satisfying the objections."

The First Minister had written twice to Ms Jowell at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) underlining his concern that Scotland’s interests were being neglected by the proposals for Ofcom.

He also held a face-to-face meeting with Helen Liddell, the Scottish Secretary, to press home the point.

Last night, a spokesman for Mrs Liddell said the changes were welcome. He denied Mrs Liddell and Ms Jowell had been at loggerheads with the First Minister.

However, John Thurso, a Liberal Democrat member of the Commons’ culture committee, said he was not surprised by the chaos.

He said: "It is clear to me that the DCMS is dysfunctional and spends all of its energy dealing with the string of cock-ups it has created in London."