When an organisation is in terminal decline then it loses the ability and confidence to defend itself.
The BBC Director-General, Tony Hall, accepts the Government’s proposal to transfer payment of the pensioner benefits on TV licenses to the BBC as offering “stability” and believes there will now be a let up in the incessant Tory attacks on the finances of the corporation.
This is presumably on the grounds that the Government have only taken away one-fifth of BBC income (as opposed to all of it) and that Tory backbenchers now will be a tad quieter in their assault on public service broadcasting.
After their behaviour during the Scottish referendum I hold no brief at all for the BBC top management.
However, I do believe in public service broadcasting and worry about the loss of journalists and programme quality not to mention the total and continuing inability to properly resource BBC Scotland.
I suppose the Government deal does indeed offer the BBC an element of stability and peace.
However, Tony Hall should remember that graveyards are very stable and very peaceful places.
