The White Paper is a perfect example of a government trying to fix something that ain’t broke.

As my former colleague Robert Peston, now political editor of ITV, put it: ‘There is a high probability that the BBC's activities will be much more severely circumscribed by an Ofcom highly sensitive to the impact of the BBC on the likes of the ITV and Sky. In practice, the BBC's ability to make highly popular programmes, or invest in important new technologies, may be reined in.’


Disaster averted? Not quite. As they say when you buy something online, always read the terms and conditions. You may need to write to your MP again.

Robin advises reading page 54 of the White Paper.

Lustig's letter may be found, in its entirety, here.