Decline of the BBC

SIR – It was with sadness that I found myself agreeing with every word of Simon Heffer’s article on the BBC (Comment, February 6).

I was brought up in the 1940s and 1950s. My father was a pioneer radio ham with a very early call sign – G4IY – and we worshipped BBC radio, trusting everything we heard on it. We always bought the yearbook and those celebratory LP records.

Now, however, it seems that the BBC has an agenda to promote on so many topics – the criminal justice system, for instance. When I was a magistrate in the 1980s and 1990s, I witnessed first-hand what works and what does not. Every BBC programme I have heard has taken a one-sided approach.

The BBC has lost its way – and its integrity. There is no longer a strong enough case for retaining a funding model from 100 years ago.

Austin Hawkins

Torquay, Devon