Conservatives attack ‘one-sided’ drama ahead of election.
The Conservatives have attacked the BBC over plans to screen a “wholly partial and one-sided” drama about the 1984 miners’ strike weeks before an expected general election.
Shadow Culture Secretary John Whittingdale denounced Faith as “the latest in a long line of left-wing dramas screened by the BBC without any attempt to provide balance or the alternative view”.
Mr Whittingdale, who requested an advance screening of the drama, said it was an example of “institutional bias” by the BBC and said it appeared the public service broadcaster was attempting to “use drama to circumvent the rules on political impartiality before a general election”.
“Faith presents a wholly partial and one-sided picture of the miners’ strike,” said Mr Whittingdale.
“It contains consistently negative images of the police, security services and Margaret Thatcher’s government while ignoring the violence and intimidation suffered by those who wanted to work.”
The BBC defended its decision to screen the drama, which it says is being shown to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the miner’s strike.
“No date for the general election has yet been announced and Faith is a fictional drama inspired by the real events of the 1984-85 miners’ strike,” said a BBC spokeswoman.
“In it we chose not to tell the broader political story of the strike but rather to approach the drama from the point of view of a number of characters within a single mining community,” she added.
The BBC says Faith depicts the strike through the eyes of two sisters, one of whom is married to a striking miner and the other to a local policeman.
The drama will be screened on BBC One on Monday at 21:00 GMT.
