Nandy's clean bill of health for BBC lacks any insight

LABOUR ministers and BBC bosses seem to be locked into a maddening contest over who is worse at misreading the public mood.

- Sam Lister

BBC seems unclear on the definition of a woman, despite a legal ruling on the issue

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy gave a speech so glowing about the corporation and its NHS-style role in our lives I was expecting her to ask the nation to whip out its pans and start banging them with a spoon.

She announced measures that will protect it from pesky rules that say it must prove its worth every ten years in return for licence fee payers’ cash.

Nandy said the BBC is “essential” to the health of our democracy in the way that the health service is to the wellbeing of the nation.

She added: “We will act to future-proof this vital institution in these stormy times when public debate feels more toxic and polarised than ever and too often the BBC becomes a lightning rod for the ongoing, exhausting culture wars.”

Nandy failed to mention the BBC’s own role in stoking those “exhausting” culture wars. Just a few hours before delivering the address, BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour held a discussion about online misogyny.

No great surprise there you might think until you find out one of the experts drafted in to discuss the problem of men hating women was a man who identifies as a woman.