GRAYSON PERRY POINTS WAY TO END OF LICENCE FEE.

Last night, I was unfortunate enough to tune into 'Radio 4' at about 10:30 and was confronted by a right old load of drivel.

 

There was a time when the annual 'Reith Lectures' were something to look forward to, being delivered on serious subjects by highly respected and erudite speakers. A vast variety of topics were covered and they were always of interest; sadly, this is no longer the case. Today's 'Reith Lectures' have been 'jazzed up' to include 'modern' subjects and speakers and include globe-trotting journeys, all, of course, at public expense.

 

This year, the lectures are being delivered by Grayson Perry, a person admired by a few as an artist of sorts but either ignored or laughed at by most. Whether or not anyone would have taken any notice of Perry but for his highly publicised habit of dressing in women's clothing is a moot point; what can't be denied is that his selection as the 'Reith Lecturer' was horribly misguided.

 

Perry drivelled away with occasional puerile anecdotes but, as far as I could tell from a brief hearing,

he said almost nothing of any note; indeed, I suspect that most half-educated art students could have done better. If Perry does have anything significant to say about art, he certainly wasn't saying it last night and one has to wonder what the BBC was thinking when they chose him to deliver this auspicious lecture series; presumably, some young arty-crafty type had the final say.

 

With their increasing determination to attract mass audiences by playing to the lowest common denominator, desire to be 'with it', adherence to consistently left-wing attitudes and rejection of anything deemed to be 'old fashioned', the BBC has surely built a damning case against the continuation of the licence fee. Today, there is very little on the BBC that I choose to watch or listen to, most of its output being awful; the licence fee is simply an annual tax on my television.

 

Once upon a time, I was a strong advocate of the BBC but no more; apart from a handful of programmes and presenters, it is a shocking mess. It is, I fear, time for the licence fee to end and for the BBC to stand, or fall, on its own two feet.