Helen Martin: Diva David's BBC view out of touch

IN what appears to be a generally logical, fair and economically sound plan, the BBC proposes moving great swathes of production out of London. Crimewatch and Casualty would go to Wales; much of Panorama would go to Northern Ireland; Manchester and Birmingham centres would also take over some output currently produced in London, and Glasgow would get The Weakest Link, Newsnight Review, the Saturday Lottery and Question Time.

While I can easily sympathise with London production staff who presumably face either losing their jobs or relocating, I can see the "greater good" in all of this.

The BBC is a UK organisation funded by everyone in the UK. During the war "London calling" might have had a certain resonance but its London-centric days are, or should be, over.

Then there are the cost implications. Only three per cent – or £38 million – of the Beeb's annual budget is spent on programme-making in Scotland. It's hardly worth running the £180m Scottish HQ at Pacific Quay, let alone maintaining Jackie Bird's wardrobe, for that. Financial efficiency means either closing down Scotland (not really an option), or using it more.

And let's not forget the BBC's role as an employer, the biggest single employer for those carving out a career in television. It's hardly right that all would-be technicians and producers have to don their Dick Whittington boots and traipse off to the Big Smoke in search of advancement or an even break.

Not everyone is happy. Diva David Dimbleby for one, is alleged to be "furious" and "deeply unhappy". It is said he fears Question Time will lose touch with the Westminster Parliament if it is moved hundreds of miles north.

Which begs the question does it work the other way round? If distance is so critical, is it also his opinion that the Westminster Parliament is out of touch with Scotland?

Bear in mind that QT isn't "local" and tours the country anyway. It can be in Aberdeen one week and Cornwall the next, so does it really matter where the production team is based?

Mr Dimbleby is also said to be irked that, as he spends three days a week on the show, he will be forced to journey north for editorial meetings. Clearly a fate worse than death, but one that he could surely avoid with use of e-mail, tele-conferencing and technology if he doesn't want the hour's plane ride. As we are constantly reminded, the BBC has correspondents all over the world from the desert to the ice-caps, from Iraq to Idaho. Long distance production doesn't seem to be a major problem.

I admit, not all of the proposals make sense. The Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower shows are held at fixed, London venues, yet their production is to be moved to Birmingham. An odd choice.

As for the rest, the location of the production crew – and even the set, come to that – is largely irrelevant.

What is relevant is that the BBC still has a lot of work to do, especially in this post-devolution age, to prove that it is truly British, that it is investing in the whole of the UK and that it is worth the fees we pay, regardless of where we live.

One man who isn't helping is Tory MP Philip Davies who says: "It strikes me that a programme like Question Time is best made in London. I would have thought it self-evident. One of the reasons you relocate to the regions is that it is cheaper. This could be more expensive."

As well as failing to explain how it could possibly be more expensive, such patronising and condescending reference to "the regions" is a prize example of why relocation is so necessary.

If anyone is out of touch, it is Messrs Davies and Dimbleby.


Clean up or shut up
Need a helping hand to diet? Read the latest Edinburgh food hygiene inspection reports. The RB Foodstore on Nicolson Street had filthy walls and floors, three dead mice on a sticky floorboard under shelving, raw meat dripping blood onto vegetables below, blood-stained aprons in a food store area and dirty cardboard used as flooring covering in the butchery area.

They weren't alone; in all, 25 takeaways and grocers failed to meet basic standards.

Most, if not all, have addressed the problems and are still operating.

I'm not unsympathetic to small businesses and I know everyone makes mistakes but for Heaven's sake – any ordinary housewife would know better. We are too "understanding" and lenient on people who, let's face it, are professional traders.

Any food outlet that can't be bothered cleaning up dead mice or storing food properly, that risks customers' health and charges money for such potentially deadly and tainted produce, surely cannot be trusted and forfeits the right to trade.

Imagine what they'd be like without regular inspection!