I love the BBC. It’s not perfect by any means and there are loads of things I would do differently if I was in charge (one day, maybe), but that doesn’t change the fact that is by far the finest broadcasting and newsgathering organisation in the world and is absolutely a great British institution.
It breaks my heart, therefore, to read of the cuts that are being forced upon it. The Tories may see this as cutting a bloated monopoly down to size, but a weakened BBC (and, by extension, a strengthened Sky) will be bad for the culture of the country.
Predictably there has been a huge outcry on Twitter and elsewhere, with most people unhappy that the thing they like is disappearing, while a thing they hate will continue. I’m not going to go down that road: I can’t stand Chris Moyles, Top Gear or Strictly Come Dancing, but I’m not going to declare them a waste of licence payers’ money, because I know there are other people who would happily axe my favourite things: Miranda, QI and The Apprentice.
It’s especially sad to see BBC local radio hit so hard by the cuts. Radio Merseyside isn’t my cup of tea (it isn’t even my glass of water) but there’s no doubting that it reaches and – more importantly – connects with a huge audience on a daily basis. If genuinely useful services like that are being reduced, is there any point in the BBC at all?