Time to stop whining over BBC licence fee

From: Brian H Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

I AGREE entirely with Neil McNicholas about the curse of advertising on TV (Yorkshire Post, January 7). Yes, there is a place for responsible advertising, and there have been some memorable gems over the years; we all have our particular favourites but nearly all the stuff which goes out now, especially adverts encouraging us to gamble and borrow, is reprehensible.

However, it is unrealistic of Fr McNicholas to suggest that the BBC should emulate the United States Broadcasting Service, which relies entirely on voluntary business grants and public subscriptions.

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PBS is excellent, a jewel hidden amid a plethora of the most crass broadcasting imaginable, but its budget, by definition, could not begin to sustain a network with the colossal remit of the BBC. Significantly, PBS draws on material from other broadcasters, not least the BBC.

Fr McNicholas doesn’t reveal the many things that “annoy and frustrate” him about the BBC but I would be surprised if dumbing-down was not among them. The corporation has put out what must be some of the worst TV outside the United States, but why? To justify the licence fee we keep whining about. We should shut up and encourage them to stick to the elevated standards which make them still the world’s greatest broadcaster.

Celebrities but no real benefit

From: Brian Lewis, Linden Terrace, Pontefract.

ALTHOUGH I have lived in Yorkshire for over 50 years, much of it writing about community development, I was born in the same working-class district as the people who I saw in Channel Four’s Benefits Street.

The problems the programme brought forward worried me in general, but specifically because by emphasising the behaviour of a drunken fraudster and a pickpocket they created a couple of celebrities. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the younger man in the near future starring in I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here. All he needs is a PR agent.

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We would probably have never heard of ex-MP Neil Hamilton if he had not accepted money to use his Parliamentary influence. For a time few weeks passed without him or his wife appearing on current events or quiz programmes.

The other thing which worried me was the impact the programme would have on other members of the street and area. At the moment I am working in a Huddersfield community and loving the experience. However one very intelligent local woman told me that when she was a girl a BBC television programme depicted the community in such a way that everyone suffered.

Selection
of Flowers

From: Bob Watson, Springfield Road, Baildon.

THE article (Yorkshire Post, January 8) reporting on the grilling of Clive Adamson, director of supervision at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by a committee of MPs concerning the appointment of the Rev Paul Flowers as chairman of the Co-op Bank made rather disturbing reading.

Mr Adamson was told by the committee chairman that his “solution was to put a financial illiterate in charge of it”. His unbelievable response was that “there was no hiding the fact that he didn’t have sufficient experience, so the decision was around how that could be negated”.

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Why, one has to ask, was the decision not made that he was obviously not suitable for the role at all rather than, as reported, being given two deputies to bolster his position instead?

This appointment was surely wrong on any count, and one therefore has to also wonder at the suitability of Mr Adamson in his own role at the FCA. Quite frankly, also not fit for purpose comes to mind.

Ukip under
microscope

From: Don Burslam, Elm Road, Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury.

NIGEL Farage’s Ukip is now the flavour of the month if not of the year, so it is time to give them a closer look. To those who are leaning to support them, I would like to ask the following.

What are we to think of a party which opposes the EU root and branch yet accepts gladly all the expenses and perks of membership of the European Parliament? It rather puts me in mind of the late Bishop of Durham, David Jenkins, who rejected the Virgin Birth and other tenets of the Christian faith yet continued to enjoy all the advantages of his privileged position. In short, like his Reverence, Ukip’s position is untenable.

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As to the basic issue which I suppose can be summarised as “Stop the world I want to get off”, it is manifestly a non-starter. The idea of a major trading nation such as ours cutting adrift of the continent and putting at risk the many contacts in politics and trade built up over the years is ludicrous. It is in the same hare-brained category as Scotland going it alone.

All politicians are guilty of offering tendentious views and dubious statistics but there are limits to the sort of nonsense dished out by Mr Farage and his stage army. Perhaps the EU’s Parliament should be given credit for accepting would-be saboteurs without at least asking for an oath of allegiance.

Challenge on
climate change

From: Quentin Deakin, Newark Road, Crossflatts, Bingley.

IS Shipley MP Philip Davies going to support his party leader in acknowledging that climate change is probably responsible for recent calamitous weather events (Yorkshire Post, January 9)?

Man-made climate change is with us and those, like Mr Davies, who tilt against windmills, no longer seem quaint. Just irresponsible. Unfortunately, they have enjoyed such a free run that many, including most of our young people, turn a blind eye, refusing to take the issue seriously (I speak as a teacher).

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Now that the economic cost of failing to counter climate change is becoming clearer, we can only hope that the threat to the economy will start to shake the faith of the sceptics. If Mr Davies won’t support Mr Cameron’s comments, there is another party where outright climate scepticism is party policy. I’m sure he would find a welcome there.

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