Trust the BBC to dig a hole for itself

What if the BBC Trust tells a government threatening to abolish it that the licence fee is now frozen? And what if the trust's chairman , Sir Michael Lyons – a man scoffed at in ministerial circles as "an ex-Labour councillor" – tactfully says he won't be hanging around when his term ends next year? Is that enough to keep the latest apparatus of corporation governance in place? It's difficult to shed too many tears if it isn't. As the trust blesses salary cuts in high places, we watch Jay Hunt, the bright spark who runs BBC1, depart to another public service broadcaster (Channel 4) for her current pay plus David Cameron's rate on top. We groan over a precedent that declares that licence fee rises can be carved back at will. We watch cash that could have been used to support the World Service forgone. And we wait to see who the next (and perhaps last) trust chairman will be – because, yes!, it's a government appointment. I know Rupert Murdoch is supposed to be the greatest threat to BBC survival – but the rest of the demolition squad seem to be managing pretty well without him.