John Birt

Biography

Lord John Birt was born 10 December 1944. He worked at Granada and London Weekend Television, where he became good friends with Peter Mandelson, before starting at the BBC as deputy director-general in 1987. He was the Beeb’s Director-General from 1992 to 2000, was awarded the life peerage in 1999, and took his seat in the House of Lords in March 2000.

In October 2001, Birt was appointed as Tony Blair’s personal advisor, for what was termed ‘Blue Skies thinking’. The position was unpaid. His role was controversial: as a special advisor rather than a civil servant, he is not obliged to appear in front of Commons Select Committees – and repeatedly failed to do so when requested.

He prepared reports on crime, drugs, education, health and transport – all of which have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. NuclearSpin is currently applying for a copy of his report on the future of nuclear power, widely reported to back the industry wholeheartedly. [1]

While at Downing Street, Birt worked part-time for management consultants McKinsey & Company, which has won a considerable number of contracts with the Government. Since February 2004, Birt has been a member of the Board of Directors of PayPal. [2]

On December 15, 2005 Birt announced that he was leaving Downing Street to take up a post with the private equity firm Terra Firma. [3]

Links to nuclear industry

Birt is widely reported to be pro-nuclear and his unpublished report on energy is said to recommend the expansion of nuclear power. [Marie Woolf and Andrew Grice, ‘Nuclear power? Yes please, says Blair’, The Independent, 23 April 2005; Eddie Barnes and Murdo Macleod, ‘Country needs nuclear power’, Scotland on Sunday, 15 May 2005]

“Both John Birt, the PM's personal adviser and former head of the BBC, and industry adviser Geoffrey Norris, have been pushing the technology [nuclear] strongly from the Strategy Unit at No 10,� according to The Guardian. ['Energy review: Who's for, who's against and why', The Guardian, 30 November 2005]

According to press reports during mid-2005, Tony Blair also lobbied for Birt to become chairman of the nuclear power company Urenco – which has almost a fifth of the global uranium enrichment market and is jointly owned by the British, Dutch and German governments. The job went to Christopher Clark, former chief executive of chemicals firm Johnson Matthey, in September. [Jane Merrick, ‘Birt the crony is in line for Pounds 300,000 post’, Mail on Sunday, 26 September 2005; ‘Birt tipped for Urenco post’, The Independent, 26 September 2005; Graeme Wilson and Michael Seamark, ‘Birt quits No10 and heads for the City’, Daily Mail, 16 December 2005]

Reports also suggest that Birt then unsuccessfully lobbied to be appointed head of the Government’s forthcoming review of nuclear energy before quitting as Blair’s special advisor. [Andrew Grice, ‘Birt's move to head nuclear inquiry is blocked by Cabinet’, The Independent, 28 November 2005]