I spent some of my happiest working years as a regional reporter for the BBC. Not once was I pressurised to report a story with a particular slant or political angle.

We were expected to report impartially and accurately, and that’s what we did. But, regrettably, I am not sure I can give this assurance about the BBC’s national news. Recently, the organisation has hit the news itself, and for all the wrong reasons. Last July, it was forced to reveal annual payments of over £150,000. The list showed not only huge pay-outs to stars, but glaring discrepancies between male and female newsroom colleagues.

The BBC’s suggestion that women’s pay should be levelled up to match their male counterparts’ inflated salaries, using taxpayer’s money, was outrageous. Then there’s the growing evidence of bias, significant when over 50 per cent of us rely on the corporation for news.

In January, the Institute of Economic Affairs found that two thirds of panellists on Question Time and Any Questions in 2016 and 2017 were Remainers.

This followed analysis by Civitas, which showed that between 2005 and 2015 only 132 of 4,275 guests asked to speak on the Today programme about the EU supported Brexit. This veers close to propaganda – and we’re paying for it.

The BBC also appears intolerant of anyone who does not toe the same, politically correct line.

This week on the Today programme, a Caribbean bishop, visiting for the Commonwealth meeting, was derided because he said he believed in the Bible’s teachings about homosexuality.

Sir Cliff Richard, though not charged with any offence, watched the police raid his home on television in 2014, courtesy of a BBC news helicopter.

He’s now suing.

Once revered, the BBC must find its way again, and fast.