Night of the Nasty Knives.

I see the politicians are continuing to exercise their reeking daggers on the BBC. It seems to be mostly those ageing senators from the Thatcher era – people like Mellor and Patten. Patten’s latest pearl of wisdom is ‘The BBC needs to get a grip.’ Well, let’s widen the perspective a bit.

The BBC is not perfect, but for the last eighty years or so it has been one of Britain’s most revered institutions. Such a description could hardly be applied to Parliament. Let’s list a few of the scandals that have rocked that august institution over recent years:

A Prime Minister blatantly lying to the country over the Iraq issue.

Numerous MPs being found guilty of making fraudulent expenses claims.

A government telling workers that they must accept pay increases lower than the rate of inflation, and then voting themselves a 59% rise.

The current Prime Minister being shown to have had a ‘cosy’ relationship with the head of Newscorp, a woman who is now on trial over the phone hacking scandal.

I’m sure I could think of more if I could be bothered to take the time.

And so, Messrs Mellor and Patten, I think you should put your weapons away and stop hiding behind this little opportunity to exercise your nasty, predatory instinct. It would be nice to put the following question to the country in a referendum:

Which body do you most trust, the BBC or Parliament?

I think I know what the overwhelming response would be. If any institution should be getting a grip, it’s Parliament.

It appears the BBC made an error of judgement over its reporting of the children's home abuse issue. That's unfortunate,  but even the most worthy of people are capable of making the odd error of judgement. It's a fault we can forgive as long as the error was made honestly, and honesty is a quality that is rarely associated with politics. 'Hypocrisy,' on the other hand, would be high on the list.