News media reports of proposed £100,000 payouts by construction companies to victims of the Consulting Association’s database of supposedly subversive workers have drawn attention to another example of the BBC’s failure to be politically neutral.
The Consulting Association was set up following the closing of the Economic League and took over its role in fighting what it saw as “subversion” by trade union activists, particularly in the construction industry. Workers in its database were often barred from jobs by firms that subscribed to the Association’s enquiry service.
The Economic League was formed in 1919. According to the Financial Times its council “was heavy with establishment figures, including military officers, lords, knights and the chairman of the BBC.” The BBC chairman was a “lord” named Jack Pease. He chaired the state broadcaster from 1922 to 1926.