BBC Digest

MAITLIS ‘CHUCKS ROTTEN EGGS’ AT FORMER BREXIT MEP:  Craig Byers (Is The BBC Biased? 12/9), noting that Emily Maitlis was back presenting BBC2 Newsnight after a fortnight’s break – during which new director general Tim Davie had announced a renewed drive towards impartiality – argued that, in presenting an item about UK-EU Brexit negotiations, she had made not ‘the faintest attempt at even-handedness’.  Craig explained:

‘When I saw that she was going to conduct a joint interview between a pro-EU, ex-Conservative opponent of Boris Johnson (David Gauke) and a former Brexit Party MEP (Ben Habib) I metaphorically rubbed my hands in anticipation.

‘What better test could there be? Would she be even-handed, put appropriate devil’s advocate questions from different positions, etc? My old interruptions test probably tells you all you need to know. She interrupted Ben Habib 11 times and David Gauke only once – and the one interruption of David Gauke was only so that she could get right back to bullying Ben Habib.

‘She didn’t even make the faintest attempt at even-handedness. The two points she put to David Gauke were ones entirely in line with his own point of view. They helped him. (Hope he properly thanked her, maybe with flowers, later). Every one of her points to Ben Habib, in contrast, was a hostile one, contradicting him and challenging him, and doing from a position of disdain and moral superiority.

‘To put it only slightly fancifully, David Gauke was obviously there to be egged on, and Ben Habib was even more obviously there to be placed in the stocks and have rotten eggs chucked at him.’

SNP ATTACKS BBC DECISION TO AXE DAILY NEWS CONFERENCE COVERAGE: Daniel Sanderson (£ Telegraph 12/9) said the BBC was facing a ‘major backlash’ from Scottish nationalists after it had decided that it would no longer routinely broadcast SNP first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s daily press conferences, which had been started at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown.  He reported that the Scottish National Party believed the broadcasts on BBC1 in Scotland provided essential information about risks, whereas political opponents had compared her performances to party political broadcasts pushing the SNP perspective. Mr Sanderson added that future conferences would be covered on news merit rather than automatically.

BBC ‘REACHES NEAR EQUALITY IN MALE-FEMALE PAY RATES’: Hana Carter (Sun 12/9) said that figures on pay released by the BBC suggested that pay for women working at the corporation had moved closer to equality, with 45 per cent of those earning more than £150,000 now being females, compared with 25 per cent four year ago. Ms Carter claimed that highly-paid male stars had taken pay cuts while ‘some women had reaped higher rewards’. She suggested that one of these was news presenter Fiona Bruce, whose pay was likely to be around £400,000 a year after she took over presenting BBC1 Question Time as well as her other roles.

ANDREW NEIL ‘CONSIDERING HIGHER PROFILE BBC ROLE’: Robert Mendick (£ Telegraph 10/9) claimed that former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil had been offered a ‘higher profile than  he had before he was taken off air’ by new director general Tim Davie, and that Mr Neil ‘regarded as one of the most forensic political interviewers on television’ was believed to be considering roles on BBC1 and BBC2 as part of an overhaul of the corporation’.     Mr Mendick noted that Mr Neil’s former BBC programme had been taken off air in March and then formally axed during the summer as part of budget cuts.

‘ALLEGRA STRATTON FAVOURITE FOR DOWNING STREET  HOT SEAT ‘: Jack Maidment (Mail online 10/9) said that former BBC journalist Allegra Stratton, who was currently director of communications for chancellor Rishi Sunak, was believed to be the frontrunner in a selection process to choose who would front  new daily White House-style press briefings about government policy from Downing Street. Mr Maidment said that prime minister Boris Johnson was believed to be impressed by Ms Stratton’s work for Mr Sunak, although she had not formally applied form the new post.  He added that Downing Street had insisted there would be a ‘full and proper’ selection process for the £100,000+-a-year post.

FORMER RADIO 4 BOSS SLAMS ‘OUT OF CONTROL’ BBC PRESENTERS: Luke May (Daily Mail 10/9) said that Mark Damazer, a former controller of BBC Radio 4, had told an Institute of Economic Affairs  webinar that use of tweets and social media by some BBC stars to express political views was ‘out of control’ but had denied that corporation output was not ‘paralysed by wokeness’.   It was also reported by the newspaper that BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty could be banned from speaking about Natwest on the programme sofa after it had been disclosed she had ‘moonlighted’ by appearing in a promotional video for the bank.

MAIN ADVOCATE OF WOKE CULTURE ‘IS BBC’: Anne Widdecombe (Express 9/9), discussing the rise of ‘woke’ culture, which , she claimed, was akin to the Spanish Inquisition (minus only the torture), argued that the main exponent was the BBC.  She declared:

‘Supposedly impartial, it simply ignores what it does not like and jumps on any passing bandwagon that suits its own metropolitan-elite driven notions, as is evidenced by the enthusiasm with which it has recently embraced the agenda of portraying Britain and her historic figures as rabidly racist.’

Miss Widdicombe noted that Tim Davie, the new BBC director general, had a big part to play in making the country once more a land of liberty and free speech – but said she was not holding her breath that he would.

BBC ‘WOMEN’S HOUR HAS MADE ITSELF REDUNDANT’: Allison Pearson (£ Telegraph 9/9), noting that ‘talented’ presenter Emma Barnett had been appointed as the new main presenter of BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour, replacing Dame Jenni Murray, commented that the programme had become ‘too pious’ for her and that there was a ‘weary inevitability’ to the fact that an item on singing or Arctic exploration ‘will shoehorn in a diversity or BAME angle’. She opined:

‘A recent hyper-Woke discussion about something called “allyship” featured a blizzard of politically-correct terms like “systemic oppression” “intersecting identities” and “decolonising your mind”. Anyone tuning in to find out what to do with foraged blackberries would have been bemused.’

She concluded:

‘Emma Barnett  will appeal to a younger generation of women. The trouble is most won’t be at home listening to the radio. They will be out pursuing the jobs that they can take for granted because seven decades of fervent campaigning by an iconic female radio programme, among others, has given them all the opportunities their grandmothers never had. Woman’s Hour has made itself redundant.’

BBC DIVERSITY CHIEF ‘SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY DAVIE’: John Smith (Conservative Woman 9/9), noting that BBC presenter Naga Munchetty had taken a second recent moonlighting role – thus adding to her £195,000-a-year publicly-funded salary – said that a bigger problem facing new director general Tim Davie, who had vowed to crack down on such activities, was the approach of June Sarpong, the corporation’s director of creative diversity.   Mr Smith pointed out that Ms Sarpong’s salary, which alone among senior executives, was not disclosed, but was likely to be at least £150,000 a year for a three-day week, and had a budget of £100 million connected with her role. He said that the rest of the time, Ms Sarpong took commissions from advertisers M&C Saatchi Merlin and Burberry, and also wrote books for Harper Collins as well as running her own company, Diversify International. Mr Smith concluded:

‘Are newspapers too afraid to ask probing questions about her activities, including her naïve at best and dangerous at worst, promotion of revolutionary Black politics on social media, fearing they will be labelled ‘racist’ if they do so? Or is it just that nobody has noticed this glaring oversight yet? If Tim Davie is not aware of the Sarpong case, it’s time he had a look at it. I sense it has the makings of a scandal.’

BBC SPORTS PRESENTERS WARNED ABOUT ‘RACIAL STEREOTYPING’:  Kieran Gill (Daily Mail 9/9) reported  that around 450 broadcasting staff, including  BBC presenters, and those from a range of outside organisations, had been on an ‘avoiding racial bias’ webinar training session, and had been told they must not use terms such as ’nitty gritty’, ‘sold down the river’ and ‘uppity’, along with ‘whiter than white’, ‘blackballed’ and ‘black mark’.   He said that the participants had also been warned describing black players  as having ‘pace or power’ could lead to them falling into the trap of racial stereotyping.

BBC FARMING STAPLE ‘NOW ABOUT BLACK LIVES MATTER’: Jane Kelly (Conservative Woman 9/9) said BBC Radio 4 On Your Farm – which used to focus on advice on ‘stockpersonship and agricultural practice’ – had now, like all BBC output, succumbed to reporting through the Black Lives Matter lens, with the result that reporter Anna Jones had told the audience from a farm in New York state run by two black women and two lesbian married couples that ‘black, gay female farming and diversity is the way of the future’.  Ms Kelly observed:

‘Rather than correct animal feed, the programme fed us with essential facts; Africans invented agriculture, but their skills were stolen from them. And if you thought people once moved from the land to the cities seeking a better way of life, you were misinformed; it was all about slavery and racism.’

BBC EXECUTIVE ‘WISHES DONALD TRUMP DEAD’: Kurt Zindulka (Breitbart London 8/9) reported that a senior BBC human resources executive had shared social media posts wishing for the death of president Donald Trump, expressing support for Jeremy Corbyn and had called so-called ‘right-wing’ British actor Laurence Fox a c**t.  Mr Zindulka – noting that director general Tim Davie had announced a crackdown on such activities – quoted a BBC source as saying that what she had done was ‘very inappropriate’.

NEW DG ‘CONSIDERS TWO-TIER’ BBC LICENCE FEE: James Robinson (Daily Mail 6/9) reported that new BBC director general Tim Davie was considering the introduction before the end of the current BBC Charter in 2027 a two-tier licence fee – with basic and premium packages – as well as future funding via income tax, which would involve a sliding scale levy according to income, or via council tax.   Mr Robinson explained that the two-tier licence fee would mean that basic programmes such as Eastenders and Blue Peter, as well as news output would be available for the cheaper fee, while Strictly Come Dancing and first-run dramas would be graded as premium.

TIM DAVIE ‘HUMILIATES’ PURNELL, BUT ‘DESPERATELY WOOS’ ANDREW NEIL:  Andrew Pierce (Daily Mail 6/9) suggested that in Tim Davie’s management shake-up, a loser was former Labour minister James Purnell, who had been in overall charge of radio services, but was now line-managed by Charlotte Moore, whose new role as chief content officer encompassed all services except news and that emanating from the regions. Mr Pierce claimed that the change was a ‘humiliation for Mr Purnell, who had been in the running to become director general.  Mr Pierce also speculated that Tim Davie was ‘desperately’ trying to woo back to a presenter slot the former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil, whose previous BBC current affairs roles had been axed by former director general Tony Hall.

BBC STAFF SURVEY PLANS ‘TRIGGER OUTRAGE’:  Susie Cohen (Daily Mail 6/9) said that the BBC was ‘under fire’ from a range of MPs and pressure groups for Plans to spend up to £1 million (over five years) on  computer software involved in regular staff surveys designed to gauge opinions of staff on how to make the corporation a better place in which to work. Ms Cohen said that Dennis Reed, of campaign group Silver Voices, had said that over-75s who were now being forced to pay for their licence fees would be ‘enraged’ by the news.

CHARLOTTE MOORE APPOINTED TO BBC BOARD: A BBC announcement (3/9) said that Charlotte Moore had been appointed Chief Content Officer of the BBC  – in charge of all content except that originating from BBC News and the nations and regions – and had joined the corporation’s executive board.  The release said:

The Chief Content Officer’s responsibilities include:

• Television commissioning for all BBC network TV channels and BBC iPlayer
• Radio commissioning and production for all ten national radio networks and BBC Sounds
• Multi-platform commissioning and production for all children’s and education content
• BBC Proms and Orchestras

As Chief Content Officer, Charlotte Moore will be the creative lead and set the strategy for BBC TV, Network Radio, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, across all key genres and platforms. She will lead the Channel and Station Controllers and set an editorial strategy which reflects the diversity of all the BBC’s audiences.

The release also confirmed that, as Tim Davie had outlined in his speech to staff on 3/9, the BBC Executive Committee, which previously had 18 senior executive members of the corporation, had been slimmed down to 10 members. Those removed from the committee included David Jordan, the director of editorial standards, James Purnell, the former Labour minister who was director of radio and education, and Sarah Jones, chief general counsel.

BBC ‘WORRIED ABOUT LICENCE FEE’: Guido Fawkes (4/9), noting that new director general Tim Davie had thrown some ‘surface-level red meat’ in terms of u-turning to allow Rule, Britannia to be sung at the last night of the proms and talking about getting rid of left-wing comedy, was at the same time digging hard to protect the corporation’s ‘telly tax’ (the licence fee). The blog said this was evidenced by that the BBC was currently advertising for a new £63,000-a-year ‘communications specialist’ to work specifically on TV licensing.

Emily Ferguson (Express 4/9) reported that figures gathered by her newspaper suggested that the BBC had boosted its licence fee enforcement spending by £38 million to £140 million in the coming year, the extra costs being triggered by the scrapping of free licences for the over-75s from August 1.

BBC ‘SHOULD AXE SPRINGWATCH PRESENTER BECAUSE OF BIAS’: James Gant (Daily Mail 4/9) said that following BBC director general Tim Davie’s speech in which he had said bias had no place on the BBC,  Tim Bonner, the head of the Countryside Alliance, had asserted in a tweet that the corporation should drop BBC Springwatch presenter Chris Packham because, he alleged, he frequently expressed strong opinions on matters of public policy. Mr Gant noted that within hours of Mr Bonner’s tweet, Mr Packham had protested in a tweet that a stag hunt group had received a £50,000 coronavirus loan and a £10,000 grant.

BBC MUST ‘URGENTLY CHAMPION IMPARTIALITY’: Dan Sales (Mail online 3/9) said that new BBC director general Tim Davie, in his first address to staff, had asserted that if they wanted to be opinionated columnists or partisan campaigners on social media, they should not be working at the BBC, and that the corporation needed to urgently ‘champion and recommit to impartiality’.  He had insisted his drive was about being ‘free from political bias, guided by the pursuit of truth, not a particular agenda’, and asserted:

‘If you work here, nothing should be more exciting than exploring different views, seeking evidence with curiosity and creatively presenting testimony. Making use of our own experiences but not driven by our personal agendas. I wonder if some people worry that impartiality could be a little dull. To be clear, this is not about abandoning democratic values such as championing fair debate or an abhorrence of racism. But it is about being free from political bias, guided by the pursuit of truth, not a particular agenda. If you want to be an opinionated columnist or a partisan campaigner on social media then that is a valid choice, but you should not be working at the BBC.’

Mr Sales reported that Mr Davie had also told staff that there was no room for complacency about the BBC’s future and must evolve to protect what was cherished because if current trends  continued ‘we will not feel indispensable enough to all our audience’. He added that Mr Davie believed the corporation had spread itself too thinly amid competition from streaming services, which could mean it was time to stop making some shows, to stop navel-gazing, and maybe close down some services, stating that the end had come of ‘linear expansion  for the BBC’.

Mr Sales also said that Mr Davie had made it clear that he opposed the idea of a subscription model of revenue generation in future, but had not spelled out what other options might be favoured.

Steven Brown (Express 3/9) said that Mr Davie, in his address to staff,  had said that the future of the corporation was in doubt if it could not regain the trust of the public.  He had also said that the corporation must explore new ways of delivering impartiality, including seeking a wider spectrum of views, pushing out beyond traditional political delineations and finding new voices from across the nation. Mr Brown added that he had warned staff that he would be taking action in the coming weeks, including new guidance on how to deliver impartiality, and affecting a ‘radical shift’ in the focus of the BBC  to reconnect with those who felt alienated by the corporation.

Ti Davie’s full speech can be read here.

NEW BBC DG ‘IN TOUCH WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE’: Robert Hardman(Daily Mail 3/9), stressing that he wanted the BBC to thrive,  argued that in the row over the last night of the proms, new director general Tim Davie – who had announced that the sung version of Rule, Britannia would be included –  had been handed a very simple, headline-grabbing and cost-free means of making his mark on the corporation, and in tune with ‘ordinary people’. Mr Hardman claimed that the decision would be welcomed by most ‘level-headed’ people in the country, though he said that the announcement about the change of heart over the proms was ‘both condescending and nonsensical’ in claiming that the problems had been thrust on the BBC by the problems of Covid-19  rather than being of their own making.

Leo McKinstry (Express 3/9) claimed that the decision by Tim Davie over the proms represented an extraordinary defeat for the ‘social justice warriors’, and that if Mr Davie continued in the same way, he would ‘transform the corporation for the better’.  Mr McKinstry  suggested that the new director general was the ‘antithesis of the progressive mandarin’ who had worked in the commercial world and in the 1990s had been a Conservative activist.

BBC’ SHOULD PROVIDE COMEDY THAT IS FUNNY’: Rod Liddle (Sun 3/9), noting that new BBC director general Tim Davie had reportedly suggested that BBC comedy was too ‘left-wing’,  argued that the real problem was that jokes told on air – involving often, for example, that Donald Trump had an orange face – were not funny.   He asserted:

‘Listen in now and you get ­panels of people who all think the same thing, making the same jokes, over and over. It is stultifying. Luckily, the new director-general of the BBC has noticed this. Tim Davie has said he wants a few more right-wing comics on those panel shows.’

Mr Liddle argued that the solution was not to choose comedians simply because they were right-wing, but ‘comics brave enough to tackle subjects the BBC staff think are sacred cows’.

He concluded:

‘One more thing, D-G. I hope you are including Newsnight in your list of comedy programmes that need an overhaul. And ­ridding of leftie bias. Get shot of Emily Maitlis for a start. That would give us all a laugh.’

‘CONSERVATIVE VIEWS OMITTED FROM BBC NARRATIVE’: Nicholas Burnett (The Conservative Woman 3/9), discussing BBC bias, observed that throughout the summer, in the ‘midst of racial tension stocked by Marxist agitators’ (referring to the Black Lives Matter protests), the BBC had chosen to amplify individuals’ claims of racism against the police ‘without challenge or context’.  He added:

‘The same sense of grievance plays out in much of the ‘woke’ narrative too often consuming BBC News output. Many black people don’t feel deeply offended by white society. Many gays feel awkward with train carriages painted in their name. Many women roll their eyes when the next round of gender-pay grievance figures is headlined. Conservative views are omitted from the BBC’s narrative as it gives credence to ‘strong feeling’ over balanced rational coverage. Britons do care about fairness, tolerance and equality but not the version pushed by activists.’

Mr Burnett argued that the BBC’s pursuit of ‘more diversity’ had led now to the assumption that race, sexuality and gender were primary factors in the worth and measurement of people , and that – in effect – was bouncing back on them with reported claims of institutional racism within the BBC, with employees of the Africa service complaining that having a white manager was akin to ‘working the cotton plantations of old’.

Mark Duell (Mail online 2/9) reported that the BBC had announced that sung versions of Land and Hope of Glory and Rule, Britannia would be included in the last night of this year’s proms on September 12, reversing an earlier decision that they would not be. Guido Fawkes (2/9) included the full BBC statement:

‘The pandemic means a different Proms this year and one of the consequences, under COVID-19 restrictions, is we are not able to bring together massed voices. For that reason we took the artistic decision not to sing Rule, Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory in the Hall. We have been looking hard at what else might be possible and we have a solution. Both pieces will now include a select group of BBC Singers. This means the words will be sung in the Hall, and as we have always made clear, audiences will be free to sing along at home. While it can’t be a full choir, and we are unable to have audiences in the Hall, we are doing everything possible to make it special and want a Last Night truly to remember. We hope everyone will welcome this solution. We think the night itself will be a very special moment for the country – and one that is much needed after a difficult period for everyone. It will not be a usual Last Night, but it will be a night not just to look forward to, but to remember.’

A report on the BBC’s own website (2/9) reflected the statement and noted the decision had promoted a tweet from culture minister Oliver Dowden that he was ‘pleased to see common sense has prevailed’, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had said it was the ‘right decision’. The article noted that performer Chcichi Nwankou, who ran a black and ethnic minority orchestra, had told the BBC that the inclusion of the songs was ‘offensive’.

Mark Duell also reported that other supporters of the decision included television presenter Piers Morgan and actor Laurence Fox.

‘DAVIE FACES EXISTENTIAL BBC THREAT’: Edward Browne (Express 1/9) reported that in a speech to staff on Thursday, new BBC director general Tim Davie was expected to announce a shake-up in BBC comedy output  so that it was no longer dominated by ‘left-wing bias’.  He reported that according to ‘inside sources’, the BBC was perceived as targeting the Conservative party more often than it did the left and now needed to commit to producing material that was more inclusive of beliefs across the political spectrum. Mr Browne added hoped that such a move would help restore trust and confidence in the corporation as it faced questions about the future of its publicly-funded model.  The Express also reported (1/9) that pressure groups the Silver Voices and the National Pensioners Convention were writing to Tim Davie to plead that he reverse the decision by the BBC to scrap free licences for the over-75s.

Former leader of the Conservative party in Scotland Ruth Davidson (Telegraph 1/9), surveying the tasks in front of new BBC director general Tim Davie,  argued that, because the current licence fee funding model for the BBC was on its last legs, he must come up with an alternative. She argued that he must exercise a tighter grip on ‘talent management’, particularly in preventing BBC presenters from both moonlighting and becoming involved in political activities and social media commentary. In addition, he needed to make the corporation genuinely diverse in its staffing and what was reflected in the output.

Ex-BBC television news executive Roger Mosey (Daily Mail 1/9) argued that Tim Davie had to deal with a ‘existential threat’ to the corporation over its funding model and needed to be ‘honest about what he wants the BBC to do, how much it will cost and how it can find the money without penalising the poorest’, as well as tackling the growing feeling among sections of the public that the BBC was not on their side.  Mr Mosey claimed that the row over the last night of the proms – with the BBC axing the singing of Rule, Britannia – had prompted despair among current and former executives, with one saying it was ‘unbelievable’ that a decision had been taken to axe the singing of patriotic songs. He argued that the BBC had done well 25 years previously  in identifying the appeal of Tony Blair and Labour, but had struggled to understand the rise of Boris Johnson and the Tory party’s surge in the general election of 2019. Mr Mosey opined:

‘Davie, thank goodness, seems to get this.  Privately, according to friends, he admits that the BBC ‘has some blind spots’, acknowledging that it underestimated the strength of public hostility to the EU during the Brexit debate.  The same friends told a ­Sunday newspaper last weekend that he is determined the BBC should shed its London metropolitan bias and ‘politically correct’ culture.  Can he achieve this? I t will certainly be a challenge. That ‘woke’ mindset seems only to have hardened in recent months, with some insiders expressing fears that it is becoming increasingly impossible to challenge fashionable orthodoxies inside the BBC.’

NEW BBC DG ‘MUST CONSIDER ALTERNATIVE FUNDING MODELS’: Gordon Rayner (Telegraph 31/8), quoting Whitehall and ministerial sources, said that Tim Davie, the new BBC director general, had been told to come up with a ‘palatable’ replacement for the licence fee by 2027 when the current BBC Charter ran out, and also that decriminalisation of non-payment of the licence fee – making evasion only liable to civil penalties – was now a ‘done deal’ which will be announced within weeks. Mr Rayner claimed that a minister had also said there was interest in ‘levelling the playing field’ by allowing  broadcasting regulator Ofcom to award more licences to commercial rivals. He added that the BBC Licence Fee (Civil Penalty) Bill was due for a second reading in November. Mr Rayner also reported that Mr Davie, in address to staff later in the week, would say that the current licence fee needed to offer better value for money by the BBC connecting properly with all its audiences, by offering fewer repeats and programming that appealed to a wide range of views and backgrounds, rather than just to metropolitan ones.

Helena Kelly (Daily Mail 31/8) following up the Telegraph report above, said that there was ‘real optimism’ in ministerial circles that the BBC could thrive without the fee, and that  alternatives being considered were said to be a subscription service similar to Netflix or Amazon Prime.  Ms Kelly quoted a BBC spokesman as saying that the licence fee was the way of funding the BBC at least until 2027.  Also in the Mail (31/8), Katie Feehan said that an ‘insider’ had claimed that Tim Davie’s immediate priority would be to undo ‘the terrible damage done by Tony (Hall)’ and reverse the decision not to include a sung version of Rule, Britannia in the last night of the proms on September 12. Ms Feehan said a senior BBC source had told her that the proms row was another example of the BBC walking into a ‘completely unnecessary and absurd row’ about culture. It was also report in the Mail that Tim Davie was expected to clamp down on BBC presenters making money by hosting corporate events, and on staff use of social media, especially with regard to comment which could be interpreted as biased.

NEW DG ‘IS NOT STEREOTYPE BBC EXECUTIVE’: Matthew Moore, media correspondent for The Times (£ 31/8), argued that new BBC director general Tim Davie faced an “even more daunting” set of challenges than his predecessor Lord Hall did on Day 1 and that he had “a fight on his hands” due to “dwindling ratings, stretched finances, a hostile government and a suspicious public”. Mr Moore claimed however that Mr Davie did not fit the “north London elite” stereotype of a BBC executive, having a “staunchly suburban” background and “commercial instincts” and added that he “is understood to appreciate that the licence fee is unlikely to continue in its current form after 2027, and will prioritise maximising outside revenues”. Mr Moore opined that it was “savvy” of Tim Davie to “pronounce his ‘deep commitment to impartiality'” in his statement accepting the job, calling it “a clear message to No 10 that he had heard its complaints about the notorious Emily Maitlis Newsnight monologue and other bias rows.”

‘A CONSERVATIVE CHAIRMAN WON”T SAVE BBC’: Nigel Jones (The Critic 30/8), noting that former Telegraph editor Charles Moore and Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil were being cited as possible replacements for Sir David Clementi as chairman of the BBC when he retired in February 2021, argued that Boris Johnson was ‘probably too timid and pusillanimous’ to appoint either man. He added that even if either Tory accepted the ‘Herculean task’ of clearing this particularly noxious stable, they would find themselves on mission impossible without sacking the entire BBC staff and starting from scratch because the poison of leftist wokeism was ‘engrained in the BBC’s very bloodstream’.  Mr Jones reported that Margaret Thatcher had similarly hoped that her appointee as chairman, the Conservative Marmaduke Hussey, would sort out the corporation, but he had failed.  Claiming that the BBC had long since surrendered any claim to be an impartial national broadcaster,  he concluded that a bold and truly conservative government should ‘have the guts’ to pull the plug on the BBC by scrapping the licence fee and leave it to sink or swim, unsupported by a television tax ‘which is reluctantly paid by an increasingly resentful and restive public’.

BLACK BBC STAFF COMPLAIN OF CORPORATION ‘RACISM’: Kurt Zindulka (Breitbart Europe 30/8) said that dozens of current and former black employees of the BBC, speaking to the Huffington Post, had complained of a hostile work environment and ‘covert racism’ within the corporation, despite it being seen as ‘woke’ and disproportionately diverse by most ‘right-leaning Britons’.