We must protect the BBC from this attack on its tradition of fearless reporting, writes Giles Swayne. Plus letters from Meirion Bowen and Linda Rhead
I am a composer of classical music. My pieces have featured on Radio 3 since about 1971, have been performed by BBC orchestras and have appeared in many BBC Proms. My initial reaction to Nadine Dorries’s assault on the corporation (Report, 17 January) was a sinking feeling that this was the end of the line for British music.
On reflection, I realise it is worse than that. It is an attack on culture itself – an attempt to categorise as elitist anything except the most trivial commercial pap, and to brand as leftist any journalism that holds the government to account. It is a race to the bottom. The founding principles of Lord Reith were precisely the opposite: entertain the public and elevate them by treating them as equals and giving them the best of human thought and endeavour.
