Media: Talk of the Trade: Liberties with licence fees?

THE SPECTATOR is fast becoming the house magazine of the BBC. Three of the four main articles in last week's issue were written by BBC reporters - Tim Llewellyn in Jericho, Matt Frei in Palermo and John Simpson in the Savoy Hotel talking to MI6.

Anything wrong with that? Well, yes. The licence payer stumps up for these people's salaries, air fares and expenses so we are in effect subsidising their extra-mural activities, at a time when the BBC tells us it is trying to maximise its revenue. And why do they always write for the Spectator, that far- out organ of the far-right male?