The Government has waited a long time but it looks like it will take the opportunity to wield the knife and cut off the BBC’s head…the head that always looks the other way when difficult questions are asked of it.
Ther Sunday Times reports that they plan to hand regulation of the BBC to Ofcom removing the BBC Trust from its double headed position of being both champion and regulator of the BBC.
A ‘senior source’ at the DCMS said ‘It is clear that the Trust, which is both cheerleader for the BBC and its regulator, does not work. There are contradictions.’
‘Nobody could be left with any confidence in this governance structure. It is just jaw dropping.’
Labour’s Ben Bradshaw also wants Ofcom to take over from the Trust which may bode well for such an eventuality happening.
It is perhaps an irony that it is ‘Money’ that has brought the BBC low….never mind the bias…just like Al Capone the BBC is untouchable for its real crimes but gets caught with its fingers in the till.
The BBC that lectures us so primly about the greed of the Bankers, that sternly upbraids us for consumerism, that hectors us about saving the planet whilst flying to work.
I’d quote something from the Bible but no one at the BBC would get the reference…perhaps Giles Fraser could translate…then again perhaps not.
For the BBC troopers on the frontline bombarding us with its left wing, liberal cluster bombs not much will change….at least in their minds.
However that may change, though slowly, if Ofcom takes a more independent and rigorous view of the BBC’s coverage and forces change at the BBC with rulings that do challenge its imposition of its particular world view upon us all.
“It’s Mark Thompson against Chris Patten – but the BBC is really the one in the dock.
The row over excessive payoffs to executives has given ammunition to critics who claim the corporation is bloated.”
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/sep/08/bbc-is-in-the-dock?
Looks like the Guardian may be sensing the way the wind actually is blowing…
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/sep/08/bbc-payoffs-system-broken?CMP=twt_fd
“Snouts-in-the-trough BBC bosses are just middle class benefit scroungers, says MP”
By ROB WILSON MP.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2415182/Snouts-trough-bosses-just-middle-class-benefit-scroungers.html
“BBC payoff bill hits £48 million.
“The BBC may be forced to reveal the names of all 326 executives given almost £48million of payoffs in the past six years.”
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/337343/BBC-payoff-bill-hits-48-million
“Black Monday: Lord Patten to face the music over BBC severance pay.
“Parliamentary select committees have grown in courage with chairs now elected and the power of party whips diminished. Tomorrow is their High Noon.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/black-monday-lord-patten-to-face-the-music-over-bbc-severance-pay-8803471.html
This is excellent news. The abolition of the BBC Trust can’t come soon enough in my opinion.
And then we must see a total reform of the BBC itself. As I have repeated often it is incapable of internal reform, it is morally and financially corrupt and politically partisan to the Left; radical change must be imposed.
The BBC as an institution is an anachronism, it was conceived in a by-gone age. It does not reflect todays UK. There are some who have a romantic view, a feeling of comfort born out of familiarity, but that is a mistake. And the people of the UK should not need the permission of the State to watch television or listen to radio broadcasts, and turned into criminals when they don’t pay the tax; that is oppression.
The State through the BBC should not be providing entertainment and covering sport.
As for news this should reflect the devolved administration of government. Each nation should make its own decision on the future. As for England which does not have its own broadcaster or parliament yet, there must be no involvement in the decision making process by anyone from outside England or with non-English interests.
Listening to the radio this morning I hear that children are being sent to school without breakfast, because after paying their License Fee the parents don’t have enough money to buy food.
Not a problem facing BBC fat cats.
yer wrong, bob. It’s ‘the bedroom tax’ that’s causing these poor undernourished mites to be sent to school without their cocopops.
Yer see the ‘progressives’ have this supernatural ability to work out which particular expense leads to which particular necessity forgone – and the ‘bedroom tax’/ no breakfast link has been conclusively proven
I thought it was energy bills from the big bad greedy energy companies – people having to sell their clothes to survive and all that (Copyright R. Bacon Global Warming Enterprises).
I really hope this isn’t a damp squib: Patten for one is the personification of liberal, wet, arrogance with a face very high on the punch-ability scale.
Surely now Cameron will have the sense ( and the guts) to get rid of Pattern et al and make sure a genuinely impartial management is installed. One who will stand up to the left wing bullies who for many years have ruled the roost and the political orientation of the BBC.
It will also be the opportunity to abolish the excessive salaries of presenters and performers and to stop the self employed tax evasion scam they operate which allows them to not only deprive the Treasury but to claim they do not have to reveal the amount of their remuneration.
Spot on…
“Surely Cameron will have the sense to get rid of Patten”, in your dreams. Both are federalists wedded to the EU and all its works, so I do not think that Camo will do anything…as usual! Shame but they are big mates and Patten has an EU pension to support. As for Ofcom, WE do not get much of use from any of the supposed “regulators” so why should Ofcom be different.
Lets us all hope that the government do act swiftly and decisively to cut the BBC down to size as a prelude to its eventual abolition. One thing that is essential is that the BBC must be forced to accept that they are bound by the FOI Act . If they are regulated by OFCOM then this should be the case. This will stop them being able to hide their dirty dealings from public scrutiny and make them much more accountable.
‘Telegraph’ (£):-
“BBC Trust facing the axe.
“The BBC Trust could be axed after the outbreak of a ‘civil war’ over excessive pay-offs to senior executives.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/10294123/BBC-Trust-facing-the-axe.html
Love it. Although I have a low opinion of Ofcom (pay is higher than the BBC) at least they won’t have the vested interest that the unTrust had, and so perhaps complaints may be taken more seriously.
… assuming of course they have the resource to deal with all the additional complaints that’ll come its way.
One of two things must have to happen for the Ofcom option to work.
1. They will need greater resource to accommodate taking on such a responsibility, or
2. BBC will need to be cut down in size.
I know which I would prefer.
Arrived at the same conclusion at the same time!
Some are seeing this as a route to closing down the BBC.
Can’t see that happening.
20,000 essentially useless public sector drones being a) made redundant (with all necessary pay-offs) and b) ending on the dole is one nightmare no government needs.
And the kit, real estate won’t cover it, especially as the brand is so tarnished going subscription won’t see much take-up, what with all the pension backlogs meaning competitive programming won’t happen.
In a free market that means the BBC will be toast.
If there is a sea-change it will need to be very gradual.
However, like the entire public sector what is needed now is true personal accountability at every level.
And while health or teaching is essential and unions can make any restoration of sensible service very painful, the loss of EastEnders is not going to freak too many out.
By coincidence I just checked FaceBook and guess what…
BBC News
How much money can you make at your keyboard?
A BBC reporter tries crowdworking for a living: http://bbc.in/15IOPSB #tech
The comments are quite funny. Seems that pretty much any bozo with a cubicle and a PC at the BBC becomes a ‘reporter’. And by all accounts, about as good as those most have heard of. I don’t mean that in a good way.
My favourite para has to be;
‘In order to preserve the BBC’s reputation, I warned my social media network that I was conducting an experiment and they should expect some strange status updates.’
Doubt it made a whit of diff, love.
As to all the money raised being donated towards the BBC’s Children in Need appeal, that almost £20 for a week’s effort seems an apt metaphor for BBC staff productivity.
Guessing it cost the licence fee payer, what, at least a grand?
Agreed. And you know you can expect a return of the “We must protect the BBC from enemies waiting to pounce” crowd. Well, where were they when no less then Jeremy Paxman was complaining that Newsnight’s professionalism had been compromised by these same “biddable” types? The people he was referring to would have been more or less the same folks we now know continued to pocket a lot of money which could have been used to hire more journalists and researchers, possibly avoiding at least the McAlpine fiasco, if we’re to believe Paxman even a little bit. What other areas of BBC journalism have been compromised due to budget restraints while all this was going on (never mind the vast sums of money thrown down the toilet on mismanaged projects and vanity stunts). The BBC seems to have plenty of money to waste on the US, though. But is it value for money?
One is tempted to think that many of these defenders of the BBC are more concerned about fighting political and ideological opponents than anything else.
When Guardian bites the BBC, biting the hand that feeds it, with the tiswas between McClusky’s Unite and Milliband over Falkirk, Wet Patten going the distance against Mark Thompson on BBC payoffs, can we now see the day when Left on Left is the new sport? “
Self-regulation didn’t work for the tabloids and it doesn’t work for the BBC. Ironic that the BBC championed state regulation of the press but of course heavily opposes it when its own hens come to roost.
Bit like that Sonny and Shia spat isn`t it?
Can`t tell one from the other-but, boy do THEY know what separates them.
BBC-UNITE-PATTEN-MILIBAND-THOMPSON-GUARDIAN-a house of cards waiting for that gentle breeze.
Must be that lefty row over whether a Toynbee or a Benn was meant to take over the pink umma of Socialism back in 1946 or whenever.
Popcorn anybody?
“‘Broken’ BBC Trust reportedly set for axe with Ofcom to be handed regulation powers as MPs prepare to probe executive exit pay.”
Read more at http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/09/08/broken-bbc-trust-reportedly-set-axe-ofcom-be-handed-regulation-powers-mps-prepare#IkPZkcI0WwfOuT28.99
‘Ofcom to be handed regulation powers’
Much as removal from BBC internal oversight and a public slap to the CECUTT drone hierarchy satisfies, one has to follow the people as well as the money.
Can’t remember the term, but I recall there was and may still be some obligation to take on staff from the old outfit when contracts move.
Hence while a few senior heads will be very nicely pensioned off, to cope with the new workload it’s possible that a vast tranche of ‘got it about right’ belief merchants will do little more than swap business card logos and nothing much will change.
Patten is a useless fuckwit. The only time we see his fangs is when his face is pulled from the trough.
Perhaps that is why he was appointed; he was expected to spend his attention on his own troughing rather than watching the BBC. The spectacle of him lashing out at those with bigger troughs is not edifying.
Maybe the Tories have learned from the Left Wing maxim ‘if you want to destroy something popular, wreck its ability to function first.’
Today the Trust. Tomorrow the World Service perhaps? 😉
It’d be an even better idea to have the BBC trust given a one-way-ticket on Branson’s new space plane.
Probably much cheaper, too.
http://tradingaswdr.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/nick.html
Channeling one’s inner Davidson, it’s shaping up almost as ‘Nick, Nick’.
‘dealing with The Director of the Trust Unit is the same as dealing with “The Trust”‘
Why do I detect the dubious aroma of a BBC semantic weasel emerging.
From BBC peon twitter pages to market rate directors seemingly when suited in no way responsible for that which they are paid handsomely to direct, BBC staff seem to have oddly loose connections with those who they usually claim to be employed by and serve.
Even if there is some legal crack that all can point to between Trust and its ‘Unit’, the creation of an excuse void between Trust and Directors of the BBC is clearly of their own creation for just such a purpose, so guys… get stuffed.
‘Just like Al Capone the BBC is untouchable for its real crimes but gets caught with its fingers in the till.’
Priceless. Such a clever line I it wouldn’t surprise me to hear it used on The News Quiz.
Oh, hang on a minute……
Maybe it’s me but I am bored with it all already. Patten has to go and good riddance but he is expendable. Nothing else will alter much and the absurdity of a compulsory tax funded broadcaster will continue. For it is absurd and in the 21st century indefensible.
In fact it insults the intelligernce of any rational man or woman.
Never try to reform what cannot be sustained in the long term and that is what the BBC is now .Unsustainable.
Return the extorted tax to the taxpayer and have done with it.
“BBC payoff row: trust under spotlight of MPs amid reports of plans to switch off.
“Lord Patten and ex-BBC chief Mark Thompson to be questioned over differing accounts as speculation grows about trust’s future”
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/sep/08/bbc-payoff-row-trust-mps-patten-thompson?
Have Dezzy, Alby and Scotty been given the golden show….erm, i mean handshake by the beeb?….not seen em for a while.