Murdoch, Dave and the BBC



James Murdoch -
a second after remembering the size of his bank balance



With the Tories stepping up their attacks on the BBC - something that will please their media allies (not least BBC-basher-in-chief, James Murdoch) - Ash Atalla has warned against the complacency of its allies:

"Iraq this ain't... people don't want to cut the BBC. We need to start standing up for ourselves, because if we keep sleep-walking it will be like going to Egypt to find the pyramids gone, just because James Murdoch thought they were a bit old".

Meanwhile BBC Director General Mark Thompson pointed out what should be glaringly obvious - that the BBC, unlike Sky, actually invests in original British programming.

Ultimately, though, it's up to the Tories (sorry, 'the Coalition'), what will happen when Licence Fee negotiations start next year.

UPDATE JAN 2011: Looking back at this post again, it seems that Atalla's concerns were proved depressingly accurate.