Christmas tree files

20th-century files kept by the BBC

From the 1930s until the 1980s, the BBC kept a number of clandestine files on applicants accused by the British Security Service (MI5, some of whose agents were stationed within the BBC) of being political subversives, in particular communists or communist sympathisers. These were marked with a distinctive upwards-facing green arrow, which bore resemblance to a Christmas tree and had the effect of blacklisting a number of applicants to BBC roles.

Knowledge of these files broke in 1985 after disclosures from The Observer newspaper; by this time, the practice had ceased, but a number of files remained. These were destroyed in the 1990s following the end of the Cold War.

## Contents

* 1 Process
* 2 Categories
* 3 Organizations on the blacklist
* 4 People who underwent vetting
* 5 See also
* 6 References

## Process[edit | edit source]

From the late 1930s until 1984, the British Security Service (MI5) had an officer at the BBC vetting editorial applicants. During the Second World War, those deemed political subversives – particularly suspected communists or fellow travellers – were banned from the BBC. The personnel records of anyone suspicious were stamped with the legend "SECRET", a distinctively shaped green upward-facing arrow or "Christmas tree";[1] only a handful of BBC staff knew what the tag meant.[2] The practice was done in secret and was publicly denied until it became public knowledge when The Observer wrote on the practice in 1985. The officer in charge of vetting at this time was Ronnie Stonham.[3]

The "Christmas tree" practice was dropped in 1984.[4]

One reason why the Christmas tree symbol was used may have been the fact that the tune of the Christmas carol "O Tannenbaum" is the same as that of "The Red Flag",[5] although this was coincidental; the "Christmas tree" symbols were arrows, indicating that an individual's file should be referred to a higher level.[6]

Michael Hodder, who worked for the vetting unit in the 1980s, told The Times that all files were destroyed in the early 1990s as the Cold War ended.[7]

## Categories[edit | edit source]

* Category A: MI5 "advises that the candidate should not be employed in a post offering direct opportunity to influence broadcast material for a subversive purpose."
* Category B: MI5 "advised" against employment "unless it is decided that other considerations are overriding".
* Category C: The individual should not be debarred unless the post gave "exceptional opportunity" for subversive activity.

The BBC's policy was to not employ someone in Category A, although this did happen sometimes.[4]

## Organizations on the blacklist[edit | edit source]

File:A SECOND FRONT IN EUROPE CPGB poster.jpg

Despite an alliance with the Soviet Union during the Second World War since 1941, suspected communists who applied for work at the BBC were investigated by MI5 officers (poster produced by the Communist Party of Great Britain)

* The Communist Party of Great Britain
* The Socialist Workers Party
* The Workers Revolutionary Party
* The Militant tendency
* The National Front
* The British National Party

Membership of these groups was not necessary for blacklisting; guilt by association was assumed.[4]

## People who underwent vetting[edit | edit source]

In 1940, Hugh Greene – who later became Director-General of the BBC – was one of the first to undergo its security vetting, as MI5 mistakenly suspected Greene was a communist.[1] Other people who underwent vetting and gained the "Christmas tree" tag on their file included:

* Anna Ford[1]
* Paul Gambaccini[a]
* Renee Goddard [de][9]
* John Goldschmidt[3]
* Richard Gott[3]
* Isabel Hilton[3]
* Alaric Jacob[1]
* Roland Joffé[1]
* Joan Littlewood[2]
* Ewan MacColl[2]
* Stephen Peet[3][1]
* Michael Rosen[3][1]
* Paul Turner[3]

## See also[edit | edit source]

* BBC controversies
* Orwell's list
* Executive Order 9835

## References[edit | edit source]

1. ^ He says this was due to him being gay, rather than any political reason[8]

1. ^ a b c d e f g Mark Hollingsworth and Richard Norton-Taylor Blacklist: The Inside Story of Political Vetting, London: Hogarth, 1988, p. 103. The relevant extract from the book is here
2. ^ a b c Smith, David (5 March 2006). "BBC banned communists in purge". The Guardian.
3. ^ a b c d e f g Leigh, David; Lashmar, Paul (18 August 1985). "The Blacklist in Room 105. Revealed: How MI5 vets BBC staff". The Observer. p. 9.
4. ^ a b c "The vetting files: How the BBC kept out 'subversives'". BBC News. 22 April 2018.
5. ^ Thomas, Colin (23 April 2017). "Letters: Mike Fentiman obituary". The Guardian.
6. ^ QI. Series K, Episode 14. (Kris Kringle). Hosted by Stephen Fry; guests include Jo Brand, Phill Jupitus and Brendan O'Carroll. Released 24 December 2020. "The reason people thought it might be a Christmas tree was [because of the tune of 'O Tannenbaum' being the same as 'The Red Flag'] ... it isn't actually the reason ... it's actually just two arrows, meaning 'refer upstairs'".
7. ^ Spence, Alex (12 August 2014). "Secret MI5 files on BBC staff 'were shredded when Cold War ended'". The Times.
8. ^ Paul Gambaccini: The BBC marked me out for being gay. The Daily Telegraph. 23 July 2013.
9. ^ Hoffrogge, Ralf (10 July 2017). A Jewish Communist in Weimar Germany: The Life of Werner Scholem (1895–1940). BRILL. p. 588\. ISBN 978-90-04-33726-8.