Chris Patten is the kind of guy who walks the plank last. So no big surprise to read that he has suggested that three out of five senior BBC managers could lose their jobs.
The former governor of Hong Kong praised the corporation for becoming more efficient but said viewers do not expect BBC bosses to be paid massive salaries and he wants to see a smaller, more accountable group in charge. Speaking at the Prix Italia in Turnin last night, he said: “There are still too many senior managers, around 2.5 per cent of the workforce at the last count.”
Cutting the bloat won’t remove the bias. Were the BBC uncoupled from the drug of the License Tax it would move instinctively to become less top heavy. That’s where the cut has to happen.
I have never seen such a collection as the line up of bbbc ‘executives’ at the PAC the other day. Without doubt none of them has the appearance of having done one day’s hard work in the whole of their lives. What has Patten ever, ever done except sell Hong Kong down the river? Still, I expect they will all sit there be embarrassed for the afternoon and then quietly go back and continue to collect hugely inflated salaries
Sack all of them
Agreed re the calibre of BBC executives, but you might want to revise your history. Hong Kong was only ours for the duration of a 99-year lease we signed in 1898, so Patten was powerless to do anything about it. He didn’t sell anything down the river.
He didn’t sell anything down the river
The people of Hong Kong excepted do you mean?
Patten was supine and failed to listen to the Foreign Office experts on how to handle the Chinese. No doubt he thought they meant the use of chop sticks – the fat fuck.
do you know what,i have got so used to watching 3 minute commercials when watching itv,sky news channel 4 etc without the fear of them banging my door demanding i pay them with court action and a fine or prison to watch there channels,why oh why cant the bbc go commercial.it might even improve the content of there programmes.its time for the bbc to get with the plan and scrap the tv licence and go on the commercial market like itv.
Hmm? The only thing the BBC has going for it is the fact that it’s programmes are uninterrupted by grinning buffoons selling crap or aged lefty presenters/ex-beeboids selling useless insurance and funeral ‘saving’ schemes to pensioners. Can they spell ‘principles’ I wonder?
I now watch a lot of box sets and you can really see the points, especially in US dramas, where the adverts were. It takes a bit of training to ignore them but it can be done – it really improves the experience! 😉
No but they interspersed with grinning buffoons , lefty presenters and current beeboids selling their twisted pseudo-theology
Only root and branch reform of the BBC has any chance of reducing the leftist, anti democratic bias in the corporation and even then it is only a small chance. Far better to do away with it all together and allow people to buy what they want in terms of news and current affairs broadcasting from a varied range of providers. Only in this way can plurality of views be provided, which are the absolute bedrock of a healthy democratic society.
All talk of changing the way the BBC is governed, run , managed is just a complete waste of time and distraction from the key issue which is that the BBC is wrecking British democracy and the British people are being disenfranchised.
Patten has served in a wide range of non-jobs given to him by his pals.
He became Governor of Hong Kong because John Major thought Patten might lose his seat. It has always been thus.
Before that, as Environment Secretary he was responsible for implementing the Poll Tax. A policy he did not agree with. Which begs the question. If you do not agree with something that is in you power to change, why continue with it. If you cannot, then you should resign. Which really underlines David’s piece above, and that the man is a complete shit !
I didn’t know that Fatty pang was in charge of the Community Charge. That explains why it was such a complete success doesn’t it?
License fee = another poll tax.