She predicted that the switch-over from analogue to digital TV in 2012 may render it necessary.That may be later than Lord Birt intended. But Jowell's hint does suggest that he retains a talent for predicting the long-term future of broadcasting.The real question is not whether Tony Blair listens to John Birt - he does, and the hostility of BBC insiders suggests they know it - but whether the Prime Minister considers broadcasting important enough to interfere. There are already signs that he is being listened to afresh at the Department for Culture. His era at the BBC provided ample proof that he does not give up easily, so friends and foes alike expect his MacTaggart lecture to be combative. A producer explains: "His personal life has upset a lot of people Jane [Birt] helped to make John DG. She was the perfect corporate wife and very popular at the BBC."Associates say Birt was furious when the top-slicing proposal was rejected. With the BBC White Paper due in the autumn he has just weeks left in which to shift the agenda.
He has an interesting mind even if he does disguise it behind an obsession with pie charts. He absolutely does have a role at No 10 where he does things and is useful."Mark Thompson's confidants hope that is wrong. The gossip is that they are more interested in seeing Birt's new girlfriend than in hearing what he has to say. It is hard to be close to Tessa intellectually."A balanced perspective emerges from a senior BBC Radio executive. "It is futile to dismiss John Birt simply because a lot of people who worked under him found him unpleasant He got the strategy for the BBC right.
Tony Blair does not have much control over domestic policy, but to the extent that he influences it at all he does it through advisers John Birt is among the most influential Blair is close to Tessa personally but not intellectually. One special adviser said: "The joke at No 10 is one that used to be told about McKinsey executives in the 1990s. 'What is the difference between ET and McKinsey? ET went home in the end.' John Birt has not gone home. If Blair did not listen to him he would have been kicked out. He is still there."Another Labour adviser said: "Lord Birt has a close relationship with the Prime Minister.
