The BBC was forced to apologise to biologist Richard Dawkins after Radio 4 misquoted him as saying fairy tales were harmful to children.
In a torrent of angry tweets the author accused producers of the Radio 4 Today Programme of ‘repeating Daily Mail lies’ about his theories.
The outspoken atheist allegedly said during a talk at the Cheltenham Science Festival it was ‘pernicious to instil in a child the view that the world is shaped by supernaturalism’ and it was implied he wanted to ban Santa Claus.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">I gather fromTwitter (haven't heard it myself) that Radio 4 Today has been repeating Daily Mail lies about me. Nice of them not to ask me.— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/RichardDawkins/statuses/474459682858627073" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-235691-https://twitter.com/RichardDawkins/statuses/474459682858627073" data-vars-event-id="c23">June 5, 2014</a>
However Dawkins claims his words were misconstrued and he believes the likes of Father Christmas and the tooth fairy can actually help educate children in a series of tweets sent out to his 958,000 followers.
The 73-year-old said: “Fairy tales, as well as charming, can be good training in critical thinking. Children learn to see through a certain class of falsehoods.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">BBC Radio 4 Today producer just phoned me to apologise. Apology accepted. Now I'm off to snorkel near New Guinea.— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/RichardDawkins/statuses/474492456005021696" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-235691-https://twitter.com/RichardDawkins/statuses/474492456005021696" data-vars-event-id="c23">June 5, 2014</a>
He continued: “I gather from Twitter (haven't heard it myself) that Radio 4 Today has been repeating Daily Mail lies about me. Nice of them not to ask me.”
Within hours he revealed a Radio 4 producer had phoned to apologise and he had accepted.
Professor Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, makes regular appearances on the BBC, including a slot on BBC World Service earlier today.
