Quote of the day

"Why is it when you leave this country everyone is saying to you, as people who live here but are not from here say, 'You have got something that's really precious, don't wreck it?'"

BBC Director-General Tony Hall was talking about his own organisation, but it could equally have been the NHS, such is the apparent Tory determination to dismantle both national institutions.

While Auntie is facing increased pressure from politicians, a number of stars of television and film have jointly issued an open letter to David Cameron in the corporation's defence, arguing that "a diminished BBC would simply mean a diminished Britain ... Like all organisations, it has its faults but it is overwhelmingly a creative force for good." They're right, of course, but unfortunately it seems unlikely that our beloved leader will come round to that way of thinking.