The James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture

Last week Jeremy Paxman was speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. And making one or two good points, though oddly not a single word of praise for BBC Four. However Paxman was probably mistaken to join the bandwagon of those criticising the BBC Trust. He said: "I know the BBC Trust hasn’t been in the job very long. But it does seem a big disappointment that it appears so far to consider its job to be more to do with chastising the senior management than with preaching a higher social purpose for the organisation." All very well to promote a higher social purpose, but that won't be achievable before cheating and other shenanigans are relinquished at the BBC.

Jeremy Paxman was putting the cart before the horse.