No sign of change of heart from BBC

DEAR Editor, As a keen supporter of the campaign for a fair allocation of resources from the BBC for the Midland region, I wrote to Karen Bradley who is the new secretary of state for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Ms Bradley is a Midlander who represents a Midland constituency. The dismissive reply from someone working within her department confirmed my worst fears, that the Government has no intention of putting any pressure on the BBC to make a serious and significant investment into our region.

The Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands has produced irrefutable evidence regarding the Corporation’s lack of investment in our region, coupled with a track record of not producing one television programme for peak-time viewing.

The steady reduction of all programming over many years in our region has led to a lack of opportunity for creative people in the Midlands to express themselves and get recognition for it, not to mention losing out on business and commercial investment in a wider sense.

According to Mike Bradley, chairman of the Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands, they have tried on more than one occasion to engage in dialogue with the Trust and have been totally ignored to date.

Mike Bradley also points out that no mention is made of our region in the latest draft of the new Charter.

I have therefore unhappily come to the conclusion, despite the laudable efforts of Mike Bradley and others, that the London/ Salford obsession is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, with absolutely no qualms, or indeed shame, from the people responsible for it. David Emson, Belbroughton, Worcestershire