Robert Hampton

What a waste of time the Hutton Inquiry was. For all the accusations, fierce rhetoric and bitter recriminations, do we really know more now than we did last year? Most people realised that that single BBC report was flawed. BBC management made the mistake of backing it without checking out the facts first. They should have corrected the report, no question.

But this single cockup must not blind us to the overall superiority of the BBC’s news operation as a whole. I love the BBC. It’s one of the few great British institutions that are left, and I hate the smug gloating of its enemies, most of whom have their own sinister agenda, whenever it puts a foot wrong. I’ll even forgive them for Fame Academy.

I’m concerned that these unhappy events will leave the BBC, the news provider of choice for me and most other people, afraid to pursue controversial stories for fear of upsetting the Government which ultimately ensures its existence. I dip in and out of Fox News occasionally, and always walk away more convinced than ever of the need for Britain to have the BBC.

I’m also annoyed that Tony Blair and his cronies emerge almost completely unscathed and more smug than ever, despite the pressing questions about the Iraq war and the motives for it, most of which remain unanswered. Where are those weapons of mass destruction then?