Ever since it was established, the BBC has been based on three fundamental principles that have helped to ensure its importance and its quality. The first is that it is independent of government. It is a public broadcaster, not a state broadcaster; I...

It does seem as if the Government has decided to impose a relatively stringent settlement on the BBC as a point of principle; as if to show that broadcasting will be treated like every other public service in the new atmosphere of austerity in the pu...

Yet these sort of problems are part of a larger picture. An internal Home Office report this week warned of chaos in the UK's border controls, with immigration officers under pressure to allow foreign travellers into Britain, even when there are doub...

Mr Hain's invective was fierce. "The neo-con mission," he said, "has failed. It's not only failed to provide a coherent international policy, it's failed wherever it's been tried, and it's failed with the American electorate." It had also, he added, ...

In fact, they have a surpassing, if uncompromising, beauty, and a feel of the Highlands about them, one that has already achieved disunion. The weather can be bleak, but, between showers, the light has an invigorating clarity. The wildlife is remarka...