But it's always had an ideological function as a preserver of British establishment. That didn't start with Brexit, it was evident in their entire history of portraying British foreign policy, throughout the wars, in the colonies, up to Iraq.

It's days may be over, and don't get me wrong, part of me thinks 'good'. It has probably been one of the most effective propaganda institutions in history, broadcast into homes around the world, seen as a reliable source of information in countries thousands of miles away, but always with an agenda set by the UK government.

But then I see it as...kind of a symbol of the old world turning into the new. Yes the old world may have been hypcritical and self serving and all the rest, but it did have a moral duty, which was to educate, and provide a public service. The new world of media though is about being opaque, about creating total echo chambers of information and feeding off our data, and if there is any interest in being a public service, it's only to find out more information about us, which can be sold off invisibly to whoever pays for it.

Be careful what you wish for.

If punk ever happened I'd be preaching the law, instead of listenin to Lydon lecture BBC4

Education is another failing of the BBC. When I grew up we had the Open University, Adult literacy (with Bob Hoskins)English programs for non English speakers and foreign language course, all gone now.

Education on the BBC is poor, when digital TV came along they should have had a dedicated channel for all of the above and more. That I would happily pay for.

One more point

I actually agree but I also think that in this new information age, almost all notions of conventional television programming are dead and buried.

I think there is an argument to be made for a form of centrally funded broadcasting but that has to be financed through a form of taxation and not the compulsory nature of the licence in its current form. And certainly not with the organizational structure of the BBC.

Not quite sure how the entertainment industry will evolve in the future but having had the tiniest glimpse of how the new VR technology is evolving I do wonder if we are on the edge of a completely new turn? Even in news broadcasting it could be a game changer. Only experienced it the once via a friends unit that was operated by his mobile phone but that was enough for me to know that even in its basic form at the moment, it turns on buttons in my brain that nothing else has before.

Reckon it could be a real bundle of mixed blessings and curses.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

Good old Boris. BBC say no words to Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia to be sung at Last Night of the Proms. Boris says, “it’s time we stop all this wetness”.

Good time for Boris to consider defunding them I reckon.

Excellent.

One more point

The composer of 'Land of Hope and Glory', Edward Elgar, would not agree, he loathed his creation.

He blamed it for feeding the nationalism that claimed millions of lives in WW1 and against the country that discovered him as a great english composer, Germany.

Every time it was played he winced.

If only 'Abba' had been around things could have worked out differently.