Lord Hall was right to fire Jeremy Clarkson, but even that dismissal was carried out in the cack-handed way we've come to expect from this BBC director-general. Clarkson had already been given a 'final warning' last year, following more accusations of inappropriate language and behaviour.

The first of the Corporation's values states: "Trust is the foundation of the BBC: we are independent, impartial and honest."

It emerged, On 10th March 2015, that Clarkson had been involved in what the BBC described as a 'fracas' with a producer. Naturally people who still trust the BBC would have assumed nothing much more than a serious row between the people involved. But the truth is that the producer in question, Oisin Tymon, had to be treated in hospital on account of Clarkson's physical assault.

Tony Hall would have known the all facts, but instead of being honest with the public, he approved this mealy-mouthed press statement to disguise the severity of the attack.

When Lord Hall did eventually decide that Clarkson had to go, his final words of appreciation were out of place. Opera buff Hall's claim to be a fan of Clarkson's work on Top Gear was probably untrue.