The only way to restore this organisation would be a complete clearing of the stables, wresting control from those who promote a one-sided view of contemporary society.
Colin Bullen
Tonbridge, Kent
SIR – In the Andrew Marr show last Sunday, Jonathan Dimbleby, the presenter, criticised the relish with which newspapers were attacking the BBC. Would this be the same relish with which Newsnight implied that a senior Tory was a paedophile?
Rodger Fuse
Cardiff
SIR – You point out the dangers of over-regulating the press in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal (Leading article, November 11). The BBC was obsessive in its coverage of the Leveson enquiry into the tabloid press and respectful of calls for more regulation. However, that did not stop the BBC from suggesting that Lord McAlpine was guilty of child abuse without first checking basic facts.
The BBC merely dropped heavy hints, but without the constraints that still apply to the print media – such as taking responsibility for errors.
Ann Farmer
Woodford Green, Essex
Fining supermarkets
SIR – The bill to set up a watchdog protecting suppliers from unfair treatment by supermarkets is about to have its second reading in Parliament. Having got this far, the Government will be scoring an own goal if it denies the Groceries Code Adjudicator the one tool that will make it effective: the power to levy fines from the outset.
The evidence of supermarkets' unfair treatment of suppliers is clear. Watering down the bill so that penalties only go as far as "naming and shaming" will not be a sufficient deterrent, and the adjudicator risks failing to hold supermarkets to account.
If powers to levy fines are left out, supermarkets will have succeeded in their bid to make this bill a toothless pup, and will carry on bullying suppliers.
Richard Miller
Executive Director, ActionAid UK
Peter Kendall
President, NFU
Clive Davenport
Policy Chair for Trade and Industry, Federation of Small Businesses
Shaun Spiers
Chief Executive, Campaign to Protect Rural England
George Dunn
Chief Executive, Tenant Farmers Association
Chris Bain
Executive Director, CAFOD
Paul Chandler
Chief Executive, Traidcraft
Andy Atkins
Executive Director, Friends of the Earth
Nigel Dowdney
Director, Redorange
Caroline Cranbrook
Partner, Great Glemham Farms
Harry Cotterell
President, Country Land and Business Association
Tax or boycott
SIR – Has it really been beyond the wit of past chancellors to legislate so that companies selling products or services to British taxpayers shall incur tax (report, November 11) on their profits, regardless of where the European headquarters might be based or the owners domiciled?
It's crystal clear that some companies – many of them, household names – have deliberately avoided paying tax on their British operations. These organisations owe British taxpayers a huge sum and if they won't pay then we should all boycott their businesses.
David Jones
Birmingham
Easy reader
SIR – Terry Wogan complains about couriers never ringing the doorbell (November 4). A year ago Severn Trent Water wrote informing me that, as I had ignored several requests to read my meter, they had the legal right to empower bailiffs to break into my home to read the meter, and I would have to pay for repairs to any damage.
The problem was that I had received no requests, had settled all outstanding payments and had had a new meter installed less than two months before which could be read remotely, without entering my property.
Geoff Dunnicliffe
Norton Lindsey, Warwickshire
Popular politics
SIR – The Prime Minister has just given the country a vote on which police and crime commissioners we want. That wasn't too difficult. Now how about giving us a vote on EU membership next? I guarantee a better turnout.
Peter Classey
Burford, Oxfordshire
Tories should not try to imitate Obama
SIR – George Osborne, the Chancellor, has spoken of Barack Obama's victory in the American election as evidence of the widespread support for liberal social policies. This fails to appreciate the differences between the power bases of the Democrats in the United States and the Conservatives in Britain.
President Obama's liberal social policies appeal to his core supporters. In contrast, Mr Osborne's policies, whether proselytising for same-sex marriage, or failing to ease the burdens on middle-income voters, far from galvanising the Conservative base, seem designed to deter them.
Peter Pearson
Ripon, North Yorkshire
Tieless snobbery
SIR – One of the things I dislike about the no ties and scruffy jeans brigade (Letters, November 11) is the implication that their disdain for sartorial excellence makes them superior to the rest of us. It's a sort of reverse pomposity.
Christopher Egerton-Thomas
Hove, East Sussex
SIR – Whenever I come face-to-face with an individual who purports to operate at a senior level in his profession and he is not wearing a tie, I know I am dealing with a lightweight.
Peter Haddock
Haughton, Staffordshire
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