Now then

Regular readers will know what joy I take in punters sparring with the BBC over Freedom of Information requests. At the moment, the BBC is adopting a very defensive stance. Take this simple question, from October last year

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

What was the total amount of money given to Jimmy Saville by the

BBC before his death in 2011?

Yours faithfully,

richard

The BBC gloves, protecting the head, say they've found some written information, not the whole story,   but it isn't apparently possible to scan them into PDFs. This seems odd, as there are PDFs of documents as venerable as the Magna Carta. And odder, because the inquirer asked for a total, not a set of documents. Nonetheless, the BBC is ready to post physical copies - so, address, please Richard.

Dear Stephanie,

Please send the documents to 10 Downing St, London SW1A 2AA.
Thanks.

Yours sincerely,

richard