Post by Teddy Bear on Nov 3, 2008 20:34:33 GMT
It's a fairly historic day when the next prospective Prime Minister talks about the BBC in these terms. The BBC might have just loaded the straw that broke the camel's back and provided the necessary negative public opinion for a political party to openly oppose it.
Let's hope so!
Let's hope so!
David Cameron attacks ‘out of touch and bloated’ BBC
Alexi Mostrous and Patrick Foster
David Cameron has attacked the BBC, claiming that it had lost touch with the public and promising to crack down on the salaries of its executives.
The Conservative leader said that the corporation had become bloated and that it was hard to justify why 50 executives were paid more than the Prime Minister.
His comments come after the outcry over the obscene phone calls made by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand.
Ross, who is on an £18 million three-year contract, was suspended without pay for three months over the calls to the actor Andrew Sachs during a Radio 2 show. The row also led to Brand quitting the BBC and to the resignation of Lesley Douglas, Controller of Radio 2.
Mr Cameron wrote in The Sun: “The BBC has lost touch with the values of the people who support it through the licence fee.
“How could anyone who works at an organisation that prides itself as socially responsible possibly have approved broadcasting the sick telephone calls made by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand?”
He added: “The BBC has become bloated with many of its executives overpaid. Jonathan Ross’s £6 million annual contract costs the equivalent of what 43,000 people pay in their licence fees.”
It was disclosed yesterday that Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC, is paid £816,000.
Mr Cameron also criticised the corporation for harming local newspapers with its plans for local online video news and called for a review over how the BBC is regulated.
“If people have a complaint about standards,” he said, “should they not be able to complain to a body that is properly independent of the BBC?”
Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, is understood to have told Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, that the corporation needed to show “sensitivity and an awareness of where the public are” in relation to its executives’ salaries.
Mr Thompson, asked yesterday whether any new stars would receive a £6 million salary, said: “I think we are heading towards a period where it is probably the case that we will be able to secure the best entertainment talent for less than we have been able to do in the last few years.”
In a letter in The Times today, Sir Michael defended the corporation’s handling of the obscene phone call row. He said that although the corporation could have done more after the broadcast, its subsequent handling was “rapid and strategic” and was executed “with urgency”.
“The story behind the deplorable Brand/Ross incident is not one of weak governance, but of editorial failings,” he added.
Alexi Mostrous and Patrick Foster
David Cameron has attacked the BBC, claiming that it had lost touch with the public and promising to crack down on the salaries of its executives.
The Conservative leader said that the corporation had become bloated and that it was hard to justify why 50 executives were paid more than the Prime Minister.
His comments come after the outcry over the obscene phone calls made by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand.
Ross, who is on an £18 million three-year contract, was suspended without pay for three months over the calls to the actor Andrew Sachs during a Radio 2 show. The row also led to Brand quitting the BBC and to the resignation of Lesley Douglas, Controller of Radio 2.
Mr Cameron wrote in The Sun: “The BBC has lost touch with the values of the people who support it through the licence fee.
“How could anyone who works at an organisation that prides itself as socially responsible possibly have approved broadcasting the sick telephone calls made by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand?”
He added: “The BBC has become bloated with many of its executives overpaid. Jonathan Ross’s £6 million annual contract costs the equivalent of what 43,000 people pay in their licence fees.”
It was disclosed yesterday that Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC, is paid £816,000.
Mr Cameron also criticised the corporation for harming local newspapers with its plans for local online video news and called for a review over how the BBC is regulated.
“If people have a complaint about standards,” he said, “should they not be able to complain to a body that is properly independent of the BBC?”
Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, is understood to have told Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, that the corporation needed to show “sensitivity and an awareness of where the public are” in relation to its executives’ salaries.
Mr Thompson, asked yesterday whether any new stars would receive a £6 million salary, said: “I think we are heading towards a period where it is probably the case that we will be able to secure the best entertainment talent for less than we have been able to do in the last few years.”
In a letter in The Times today, Sir Michael defended the corporation’s handling of the obscene phone call row. He said that although the corporation could have done more after the broadcast, its subsequent handling was “rapid and strategic” and was executed “with urgency”.
“The story behind the deplorable Brand/Ross incident is not one of weak governance, but of editorial failings,” he added.