Westminster views on The Future of BBC Funding and Delonix Regia planted

Westminster-  UK seat of Government (tbc)

Yesterday evening  I attended an evening All Parliamentary Group session arranged by the Royal Television Society that sought views on the Future funding of the BBC.
The session was held in Palace of Westminster in committee room 9 and a selection of people attended  to discuss options .
On the panel  led by Lord (Norman) Fowler were:

Lord (Michael) Grade (a former ITV and Channel 4 boss and he also served time as the  Chair of Trust at the BBC)
Nick Ross ( A TV presenter of programmes that included Crimewatch)
Claire Enders the founder of Enders Analysis Limited (EAL) which specialises in the media sector
and
Liz Howell the director of broadcasting at City University  a former TV reporter asnd one time boss of Sky News.

What surprised me most about the short presentations from each of the four the four was the paucity of

John Hardie (left) ITN boss at RTS mteeting

 ideas on how a future BBC should and could be funded, the group basically offered two solutions one that was talked up by Grade and Enders  was keep with the non-perfect but best solution the 'licence fee' the other from Ross and Howell was to somehow supplement with a subscription (membership from Nick) to ensure that the BBC remained 'big'.

Somewhat worryingly the idea that disruptive technology was what was driving change loomed large and no view that put choice, freedom and the stepping back by the state was put forward.

Claire Enders spoke with what almost seemed like passion about preserving what to her is a near perfect Media landscape which exploited multiple revenue streams and helped ensure a successful  broadcasting  industry, to my mind her figures were used tellingly but the narrative of keep your hand steady on the tiller is one that will not lead to greater triumphs.

Amongst the audience the familiar worries about BBC training and diversity were aired and ITN boss John Hardie did make the intelligent comment about politicians talking tough but ultimately being cautious about change with respect to the  BBC's funding .

This debate as usual will continue with more hot air and the usual elevation of the BBC to British Treasure status.

Trees planted out

If you've got a great memory you might recall that I started from seed of the  Delonix regia  (Royal Poinciana) variety 2 trees - well they're planted out now ( both of them) and I've great expectations for their futures, I wonder if they're as labeled ? 

Growing from a  Cyprus seed