BBC v. The Government

Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw on the BBC, apparently without a sense of irony or self-awareness:

The £5 billion corporation “probably has reached the limits of reasonable expansion”, he said, and hinted that the “multimedia empire” needed to be cut down in size.

And:

Mr Bradshaw said: “Although the trust has performed better than its predecessor, I don’t think it is a sustainable model in the long term. I know of no other area of public life where the same body is both regulator and cheerleader.”

Whilst I can support a reduction in the vast bureaucracy and monolithic structure of the BBC - particularly if it comes with a reduction in the licence fee - I can't but note that Bradshaw's criticisms of the BBC could also be leveled at the vast, ever-growing government of which he is a part. By all means note that the BBC's current model is unsustainable, and that the organisation should be reduced in size and that the burden on the British people should be reduced, Mr Bradshaw. But don't be afraid to apply the same analysis to the government. Because that behemoth is in need of even more urgent reform than the BBC.

And you can do this, Mr Bradshaw, because you are both a regulator of the government at the same time as being its cheerleader...