ON the night that the Lord Hutton's astonishingly one-sided attack on the BBC was published, the 10 o'clock news reported the criticisms against their own organisation in great detail.
It was one of many examples of the integrity of journalists working within an institution where such attitudes are encouraged.
My parliamentary assistant in Brussels loves the BBC. But then she is Italian. She reminds me that her admiration for the BBC's independence is shaped by the fact that half the television stations in her country are personally owned by the Italian prime minister.
It will be a terrible day for Britain, and indeed for the world, if Hutton's ridiculous conclusions result in the BBC being cowed, too frightened of criticism to speak out and challenge the government of the day with what some of the world's best journalists believe to be the truth.
Chris Davies, MEP Liberal Democrat, North West of England
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