YP Letters: Never heard of BBC's top three female earners

At the risk of sounding like the High Court Judge who, disingenuously I believe, claimed never to have heard of Paul Gascoigne, I can honestly say that my wife and I had never heard of the BBC’s top three female earners Claudia Winkleman, Tess Daly and Alex Jones (The Yorkshire Post, July 20).

Viewers and listeners who constantly complain about the licence fee must take some of the blame for the dumbing-down which has made unremarkable individuals so rich.

However, we recently watched the second night of the Proms: a nice balance between the modern Lancastrian composer Harrison Birtwistle and Elgar.

The stars of the show were the German Orchestra and the great Jewish conductor, pianist and humanitarian Daniel Barenboim.

Barenboim could not resist an emotional speech about the dangers of isolationism and the power of music to unite, before launching into a stirring rendition of the Pomp and Circumstance march which has become a symbol of our patriotism.

The relish in the playing was manifest in the German musicians with some of them seen to be hugging each other at the conclusion.

That evening alone was worth the licence fee.