Screen burn

As I noted back in February, the Tories' decision to duck out of their financial support for free TV licences for the over-75s had (very deliberately, I'd suggest) left the Beeb between a rock and a very hard place: "Either the BBC don't step in and provide the funding themselves, and subsequently receive a kicking from all sides, particularly the right-wing press; or they do, and are forced to axe channels to be able to make the necessary savings."

Since it was confirmed yesterday that they've gone for the first option, the outcry has been entirely predictable, with Piers Morgan droning on about presenter salaries and the Sun and the Express (among others) relishing the opportunity to stick the boot in. What's not being reported is that the move should hopefully help to preserve the diversity of the corporation's programming and output, which will be of particular benefit to younger viewers. But the flipside is that the cost of the licence fee may be unaffordable to many pensioners for whom television is a source of genuine companionship and a vital bulwark against loneliness.

Ultimately, though, whether you agree with the BBC's decision or not, it's worth stressing that they were placed in an impossible position. The real villains of the piece are the Tories for seizing the chance to strike a significant blow in their ongoing vendetta against Auntie by making the BBC the scapegoat for a decision that they themselves took and that negatively impacts their core voters. As Labour's Tom Watson has quite rightly said, the government has "breathtaking gall to blame the BBC for this mess".