BBC to "sell cuts"

Mark Thompson has been busy explaining to Number 10 how the BBC is nowadays impartial, even though they might have been biased against Mrs T in the past.

Whether Mark can actually exert any control over his editorial staff is somewhat questionable. However the ability of the government to put pressure on the BBC to provide more favourable coverage is one of the best arguments for the abolition of the Licence Fee.

We are also struck by his repeated use of the word "impartial". Perhaps he is being somewhat disingenuous. To quote a BBC hack from some years ago "we are impartial but not neccessarily unbiased".