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The Beeb – worth more than 41p?
Timothy Garton Ash makes this argument on behalf of the BBC: The BBC is asking for an increase just above inflation, so that by 2013 we would be charged about £150 a year, in today’s money. That’s 41p a day. Are you prepared to pay 41p a day for everything you get from the BBC?…
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Today and Jonathan Aitken
Tuesday’s end of show disco on Today debated issues arising out of the SFO investigations into allegations that BAE paid bribes to senior Saudi officials (BTW see Marcel Berlins‘ excellent commentary). One of the two interviewees was Jonathan Aitken. He was introduced as a former Conservative defence minister and businessman who “famously came unstuck.” The…
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Weekend Business
Last night the Telegraph‘s Jeff Randall used his Weekend Business show on BBC Radio 5 Live show to converse with James Murdoch. You can hear their chat on this link. It’s about five minutes in. Murdoch doesn’t let much slip and blags effectively on behalf of Sky. The show is a legacy from Randall’s era…
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Fudge
Does James Murdoch write his own speeches? I only ask because his recent laudable articulation of free market principles and consumer choice in broadcasting contained this little nugget, or nougat: Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the BBC has managed so far to escape any meaningful oversight by concocting, as governance, fudge that Thornton’s…