Baroness Bakewell, the broadcaster and enthusiast for the plan, disclosed in the Daily Telegraph four years ago that the then Director General Mark Thompson had seemingly ruled it out because of fears that Orwell might be seen as “too left-wing” for an organisation regularly accused of political leanings.

But, amid a chorus of dismay from across the political spectrum at the BBC’s reticence, the current Director General, Lord Hall, later gave his backing to the statute being placed at the building’s entrance.

Now planning permission has been granted by Westminster City Council, opening the way for the bronze – designed by Martin Jennings, the sculptor behind the statue of Sir John Betjeman in St Pancras station in London and Philip Larkin in Hull’s Paragon Station – to be cast.