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BBC: Charter

My Lords, I was a member of the Nolan committee when we set up some of these principles. One of the key points that the Nolan committee consistently made was that it is not just what people decide to do but what is seen to be done and what the public perception is. If one of the trustees who was appointed happened to be a personal acquaintance of the Prime Minister or some other member of the Government, and if it was then revealed that the appointment was made by the Secretary of State having been advised by one of her senior civil servants and the chairman of the BBC, does the Minister think that he would be better able to defend the position than if the appointments had been recommended by an independent group of people against which the allegations could not be nearly so easily sustained?