Melanie meddling

Clear evidence of mission creep from Ofcom CEO Melanie Dawes, talking to The Times; she implies that moving decision-making outside London could improve its reputation for impartiality. “We are pushing them hard on the need to stretch out across the UK much more comprehensively — in how they are run, how they make decisions [and] in who they employ behind the scenes. The further away from London you go, you find that people are less likely to feel that the BBC is really for them.” 

Dawes might like to look at Ofcom's own record on regulating where 'local' commercial stations are based; the BBC's chart-topping news shows at 6.30pm; existing massive investment in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Salford and more. Small percentage regional variations in survey questions "Is the BBC for me ?" have been lighted on by former Beeboid Ofcom apparatchiks with glee; there are more important questions than new buildings in Birmingham that Ofcom should be thinking about as it considers the future of public service broadcasting under a Conservative government that hates it.