The Business section of this week’s Spectator includes a fascinating interview with Sir Michael Bishop, founder-boss of the airline BMI. The interview is, in two respects, an example of the kind of civility and discretion that many readers, having just heard or read the story of Lord Browne’s sad downfall, may feel has disappeared from modern journalism.
First, our interview was conducted a few days before BMI’s formal annual profit announcement: Sir Michael could not give any hint of the actual profit figure (other than that it would demonstrate positive progress) and Judi could not press him to say more; it would have been a flagrant breach of corporate etiquette on both sides. As it turns out, the profit was almost £30 million, a much bigger leap forward from the 2005 figure of £10 million than most commentators expected. So hats off to Sir Michael for a remarkable result, and for not being bragging about it ahead of the appointed hour.
Secondly, the interview says almost nothing about Sir Michael’s personal life ¬ although a recent Pink News survey, now widely reported in the Guardian and elsewhere, named him as the sixth most influential gay person in Britain, and by far the most senior gay businessman. That, of course, was before Lord Browne’s sexuality suddenly hit the headlines. If the timing had been different and the Browne story had broken before the Bishop interview took place, Judi might have felt obliged to broach the subject and I might have felt obliged to encourage her to do so. But we can all recognise that it would have had nothing to do with the story of BMI’s success.
I’m glad the timing of the interview was as it was, because in a subtle way it makes a very important point: that in the modern world it is still possible, and admirable, to leave certain things unsaid.
Comments