It was the right thing to do; they had to go. As an institution, the BBC is built upon its reputation of honesty, integrity and impartiality. The editing of President Trump’s speech crossed the line. The apology to Mr Trump was also required as is the refusal to pay damages for defamation of character. Not sure who’s going to break it to him, but the character ship sailed a long time ago, at least here in the UK. They might want to chuck him a fiver for good will. At least he can then claim he’s won the greatest, greatest ever victory in the history of defamation cases of all time.

We’ve all got our opinions about the BBC. Criticisms are pretty equally shared across the political spectrum with the majority thinking it gets it about right. My own view, for what it’s worth, is it can be a bit too establishment, but then it’s probably part of the job. Having said that, I thought its treatment of Jermy Corbyn, when Labour leader, was a disgrace.

Overall, the BBC is one of our greatest sources of soft power we have in the World. The network of foreign correspondents, reporting from across the globe and our own regional stations are second to none. It’s why the impartiality and integrity are so sacrosanct. The director general Tim Davie and the CEO of News Deborah Turness understood that and I’m sure it’s why they resigned. Of course, it might have been handled differently, and people can argue over the timeline but in the end, when it all became public, they just went.

How refreshing to hear Deborah Turness saying, ‘the buck stops with me,’ and Tim Davie obviously felt the same. No grubby attempt to try and hang on. No spouting of the usual mantra of ‘lessons to be learned’ or ‘best placed to put this right.’ Just taking responsibility and doing the right thing. Compare and contrast this with most of the rest of corporate Britain. From the Grenville Tower tragedy, the Post Office scandal and the continued disgrace of the water companies to name but a few. Not to mention the financial crash of 2008/9.

Who has taken responsibility, who’s been held to account? Millions of pounds spent on endless public enquiries all coming to the same conclusion that lessons need to be learned but no one was really responsible. A complete lack of accountability at the top. From the board room to the regulator and yes, the politicians too. It’s never their fault, in fact, let’s pay them a bonus. Even when, on the rare occasion an individual is actually dragged kicking and screaming out of office, they’ll probably be paid a handsome compensation package. No wonder people are angry and frustrated.

The BBC might not be perfect, but at least the leadership has shown itself to still hold the British values that helped build it. If only corporate Britain had a shred of this integrity. We have allowed ourselves to be duped by corporations fuelled by greed. The inequality in this country grows by the day and politicians seem incapable or unwilling to challenge this new status quo. Siren voices play to this backdrop of discontent; trying to divide us and set us against each other with simplistic solutions. The cost-of-living crisis continues unbated. As per usual, the vulnerable will suffer the most. One of the culprits stands before us, hiding in plain sight, corporate greed. The BBC stands as an oasis in this moral desert. I’m more than happy to continue to pay the licence fee.