Speeches by Thornberry.

“They were one-offs. They were not from a programme that will be going out regularly.”

“I understand what you are saying, but these are domestic-facing programmes that you are going to put out on the World Service. What I am asking—I will not ask it again, but I will ask it one more time—is whether there will be, in the future, a programme on the World Service that will be international, facing outwards a…”

“I wonder if I could ask your boss this. Do you not think that it is a sad day for the BBC today for you to be losing perhaps the best news presenter and interviewer that the BBC has ever had, and that Mishal Husain is leaving the BBC in order to go to Bloomberg to do a regular programme, internationally, that will be d…”

“You have been misquoted by Broadcast magazine.”

“You have been misquoted by Broadcast magazine.”

“Although, of course, it goes out on the News channel at 12.30 in the morning and 4.30 in the morning, so there may not be a large number of people watching it at that stage in any event.”

“Across the world, it is on the BBC World News channel four times a week and three times a day, where it gets a 70 million audience. On the English language World Service radio, it is on three times a day, three days a week, and gets 100 million people listening.”

“They are big numbers.”

“It is right, is it not, that the long-form interview that the BBC undertakes under “HARDtalk” means that people such as Sudanese warlords, Serbian Presidents or all kinds of people who would not normally be expected to be asked a lot of difficult questions over a long period get asked those questions by the BBC on a re…”

“How regularly are we going to hear long-form interviews being done on the World Service if you get rid of “HARDtalk” at the end of this financial year?”

“There will not be a regular programme that will be doing it, will there?”

“You might replace “HARDtalk” with another programme that will come out regularly, as often as this, three times a week and three times a day. You will have a programme going out as regularly as that doing long-form interviews, following consultation with your staff.”

“Holding world leaders to account is not going to be done as often by the BBC because of cuts.”

“No, it is because you said that no one listened to it.”

“They were one-offs. They were not from a programme that will be going out regularly.”

“I understand what you are saying, but these are domestic-facing programmes that you are going to put out on the World Service. What I am asking—I will not ask it again, but I will ask it one more time—is whether there will be, in the future, a programme on the World Service that will be international, facing outwards a…”

“I wonder if I could ask your boss this. Do you not think that it is a sad day for the BBC today for you to be losing perhaps the best news presenter and interviewer that the BBC has ever had, and that Mishal Husain is leaving the BBC in order to go to Bloomberg to do a regular programme, internationally, that will be d…”

“Mr Munro, you told Broadcast magazine that the reason that you were closing “HARDtalk” at the end of this financial year was because nobody listened to it. Where did you get that idea from?”

“Mr Munro, you told Broadcast magazine that the reason that you were closing “HARDtalk” at the end of this financial year was because nobody listened to it. Where did you get that idea from?”

“Although, of course, it goes out on the News channel at 12.30 in the morning and 4.30 in the morning, so there may not be a large number of people watching it at that stage in any event.”