The Huw Edwards affair should remind us we are lucky to have the BBC

The public broadcaster’s service to the nation is worth every penny, argues David Lister

The corporation raised (in 2021-22) £3.8bn from the licence fee (PA Archive)

Let us praise the BBC.

I realise that has long been an unfashionable concept. Not least in the aftermath of the Huw Edwards affair, the director general Tim Davie being held to account by a House of Lords committee, the publication of eye-wateringly high salaries for the corporation’s biggest stars, and a seemingly well-sourced story that the government considers the licence fee unsustainable.

Yet praise it I do. And, actually, there are few better times to heap praise on the BBC than July, the start of the Proms, the summer-long festival of classical music in a joyous atmosphere and at affordable prices. No other broadcaster begins to rival the BBC in what it does for classical music, not just in running and broadcasting the Proms but also running five orchestras across the UK, along with an ensemble of singers.