-Caveat Lector- BBC bans Dyke aide over links to Labour [Party] THE BBC chairman, Sir Christopher Bland, has stopped Greg Dyke, the incoming director-general, from bringing his long-time personal assistant to the corporation because of her Labour connections, writes Richard Brooks. Fiona Hillary has close connections with Tony and Cherie Blair and lives with Barry Cox, a behind-the-scenes power in new Labour. Cox, deputy chairman of Channel 4, has also been a leading campaigner against a digital licence fee for the corporation. Yesterday Dyke confirmed the veto but said he could not comment. Friends say he is disappointed, as he has worked with Hillary for more than 12 years. BBC insiders say Bland and several senior executives felt it would be "political suicide" for Dyke to bring Hillary with him. In last spring's run-up to the selection of the director-general, Dyke was criticised for his links to Labour and for giving money to Blair and the party. Hillary and Cox are very much part of the new Labour circuit. They visited the Blairs this summer when the prime minister and his family were staying in Italy. The Blairs called in at the Cox home in southwest France for the 50th birthday celebrations of Maggie Rae, who is Cherie's best friend and a former flat-mate. Cox, whose second wife, Katy Kay, has been Sir John Birt's personal assistant since he arrived at the BBC in 1987 and before that at London Weekend Television, met the Blairs in the early 1980s when they were neighbours in Hackney. He was the leading fundraiser during Blair's 1994 Labour leadership campaign. His son Buster joined Cherie Blair's barrister chambers as her pupil. Discussions about Hillary joining Dyke at the BBC had been quietly going on for some weeks before Bland vetoed the job on Friday. Dyke will join the BBC a week tomorrow as director-general designate. He will receive his full salary of "more than £400,000", though he does not take over from Birt until April. The Sunday Times, 24 Oct. 1999 DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
