Naughty BBC

After ITV's very hard slap on the wrists, it's the BBC who is now in trouble.

The recent revelations that the BBC has also been faking competitions and phone-ins has led to a number of staff suspensions and an inquiry.

If I'm honest, I don't really care whether Gordon Ramsey actually caught all those fish on the 'F Word' and when shows such as ITV's 'Play' were taken off the air I scoffed "I'd never ring them anyway, I'd always presumed they were fixed." I even had a bit of chuckle that the BBC had to apologise to the Queen for making out that she had a bit of a strop.

But the latest scandal with Children in Need and Comic Relief is a bit nearer to the bone. I do, after all, pay my licence fee each year - as do millions of other people. I rarely watch the BBC channels but I do tune in to the charity shows and I give my money because they're worthy causes. So it seems a shame that when viewers are supporting the BBC in more ways than just the licence fee, that we are let down and, frankly, taken for fools by some of the staff.

It's certainly not the best way to gain trust from the public, and when you're public funded I would have thought that having this is vital.

I suspect that a major PR offensive and lots of apologies are going to be needed to pull the BBC through this one and stop the people who pay their wages from turning against them.

Helen