As a student in the summer of 2002 I worked in an office alongside an academic; a kind and brilliant man who lent me books. One of them was the published transcript of the philosopher Onora O'Neill's Reith Lectures, whose theme is trust in public institutions. It is fair to say that book influenced me perhaps more than any other, illustrating as it does the many moral, practical and philosophical struggles with the concept.
What has been so clear since that summer, when I was on the brink of adult life and about to head to university, is that fewer and fewer people today trust our public institutions. And why should we, many ask, when our trust has been abused? The Church. The police. Politicians. Broadcasters. All have let us down when some of their actions – or inaction – has been revealed.
That has led to monumental change. Would the huge and necessary societal shift of same-sex marriage and abortion rights have been ratified in referendums in the Republic of Ireland had public trust in the Catholic Church not been at such a low, after it was revealed to have been a haven for child abusers? In the UK, would the Iraq Inquiry have happened if the public outcry not been so large against the lies of Tony Blair and needless slaughter of both soldiers and civilians?
To reveal wrongdoing, we need accountability. Sometimes that is institutional itself, and is open to abuse of power; witness the whitewash of the Widgery 'inquiry' into Bloody Sunday and the persistent allegations – strongly denied – of cover-up levelled at the army and Ministry of Defence over military killings of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Even today, some question whether Baroness Hallett's Inquiry into the handling of Covid will reveal the true extent of the failings of the NHS and political decision makers.
And even within that relationship of trust, there is contradiction. Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer recently missed Prime Minister's Questions to worship at a service in Westminster Abbey to celebrate 75 years of the NHS. Yet public satisfaction in the health service languishes at 29 per cent in one recent survey. The NHS is like a deeply troubled child we continue to love even though it disappoints and frustrates us.
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In May, 44 per cent of adults said they trusted the BBC to tell them the truth, with one of its most trusted presenters its chief anchor and national events presenter Huw Edwards. Having worked for the BBC in London, Washington, New York and Belfast, I know many BBC presenters.
I found Huw Edwards to be friendly, gossipy and professional on the couple of occasions we worked together. The truth over his contact or relationships with young people – which his wife's statement did not deny – are for others to determine, although two police forces have confirmed there is no evidence of criminality.
But what has been alleged is not only the complaints which were reported by The Sun after the BBC failed to act on them, but a pattern of alleged behaviour from Edwards – reported to the BBC at the time – that managers were aware of yet failed to tackle.
So often the roots of a lack of trust in institutions lies not just with the perpetrators, but the system which allows it to happen. But accountability systems are often presided over by those who run the institution, with too many managers, historically and today, failing in their ability, or willingness, to tackle those who break the rules.
Scandals in the Church, the police, the BBC, in government, would not have happened had someone running those institutions stood up and said, quite simply: 'No, this can't happen'.
For the BBC, in particular, there's a glaring irony in its extensive reporting of governance and management failures in other institutions while its own house appears to be in disarray once again.
It is clear that for far too long we have venerated the 'great and good'. Our 'elders and betters' may be more senior, but are they better? This isn't simply about poor management or an over-promoted boss, which so many of us complain about at some stage in our careers. It is about a culture in so many institutions – public and private – that rewards compliance, a lack of real inquiry and puts full confidence in managers who are yes men and women, rather than those who have the intelligence and the confidence to run institutions without fear or favour. To truly manage, with fairness and integrity.
As the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Lyndon Johnson, Robert Caro, writes, "Power reveals". We only need look at the dual crises engulfing the two national broadcasters in these islands to witness this. Neither of these crises is simply about Huw Edwards's alleged conduct nor Ryan Tubridy's salary.
Rather they are, like so many scandals in our public institutions in recent years, about those who facilitated and mismanaged a situation that should never have happened in the first place. And tackling this management failure is where true and enduring accountability must lie.
Peter Cardwell is political editor at Talk Radio and is presenting programmes on the station between 1pm and 3pm on Thursday July 20 and Friday July 21. He is a former special adviser to two Northern Ireland secretaries of state and author of The Secret Life of Special Advisers
