Frozen

The playground bullying of the BBC by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries continues. The Sunday Times, using direct quotation marks, says our Nadine has told 'allies' that “Nick Robinson has cost the BBC a lot of money.”

This refers to the Today presenter telling The Prime Minister during a 17-minute interview on 5th October: "Prime Minister, you are going to pause. Prime Minister, stop talking. We are going to have questions and answers, not where you merely talk if you wouldn't mind. Now...". A full eight days later, the BBC issued this statement: "In a live interview presenters have to judge how far to press for direct answers before moving the interview on.  There was certainly no desire to appear rude and post broadcast, and on reflection, Nick Robinson himself would have preferred to have used different language. Having said that, Nick Robinson covered a wide range of topics within a short space of time with the Prime Minister, who was able to set out his points on the issues raised."

The Sunday Times, clearly being briefed from somewhere in Westminster, says of current licence fee negotiations: "The discussions are expected to result in a real-terms cut to the fee, which is currently £159 a year for a colour licence."

However tough Nadine talks, this is a decision made in the Treasury, where it's being held up beyond normally-agreed deadlines to provide Rishi with tough lines to balance Boris's boosterism. 

• Tory leader of the Culture Select Committee Julian Knight, a former BBC junior financial hack with a record as a writer who can explain things to 'dummies', has said that, if Laura Kuenssberg stands down as BBC Political Editor, that "would be an opportunity for the BBC, maybe, to look at journalists who had a much more pro-Brexit [approach]”. Perhaps he can help the BBC draft the terms of the ad, and see how that reads back.