Stand up for Britain's silent majority, Patten tells BBC as director-general admits: We failed to address immigration

By Paul Revoir and Kirsty Walker

Last updated at 10:11 AM on 7th July 2011
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Lord Patten said the BBC should listen to accusations from viewers

The BBC should avoid pandering to 'metropolitan prejudices' or a 'tasteless common denominator' by standing up for the silent majority, its new chairman has declared.

Lord Patten said the corporation should listen to accusations that it is 'drowning' viewers and listeners with 'prejudices' and 'stereotypes' from the urban elite.

In a plea for the broadcaster to become more representative of the licence fee payer, he said the ideas of the wider public 'deserve to be considered and reflected'.

His comments will be seen as an attempt to address the long-standing claim that the BBC is guilty of a London-centric, Left-leaning bias which alienates large sections of the public.

On the issue of standards, Lord Patten added it would be an 'act of treason' if the BBC reduced quality to chase ratings.

Last night, giving the Royal Television Society's Fleming Memorial Lecture 2011 – his maiden speech as chairman – Lord Patten also said criticism that the corporation was 'not impartial' should 'keep us on our toes'.
END OF THE ERA OF PERKS AND PRIVILEGES

Lord Patten has heralded an end to ‘waste, self-indulgence and inefficiency’ at the BBC by cutting senior management posts, introducing pay caps and ending bonuses and private health perks.

In an attempt to call time on the era of inflated pay, perks and privileges, the new BBC chairman announced measures aimed at addressing the ‘toxic’ issue of pay.

Director-general Mark Thompson and his executive board will have their salaries capped – meaning they will not be able to earn more than a designated multiple of the middle or ‘median’ salary at the corporation, currently £39,668.

Under the measure, Mr Thompson will never be able to earn more than 17 times the staff ‘median’, although at £674,000 that still works out at higher than his current salary of £619,000.

Likewise members of his executive board will not be able to exceed nine times that median figure, or £357,000. Average board pay is currently £352,000.

Speaking last night, Lord Patten said public trust ‘suffers’ when corporate behaviour ‘doesn’t fit the ideal’ and the organisation needed to ‘distance itself from the market’.

His measures will also see the number of senior management roles reduced by almost two thirds from about 550 to 200.

A freeze on bonuses for the board will be made permanent and private health insurance will be phased out for top bosses.

He said: ‘Waste, self-indulgence and inefficiency at the BBC are inexcusable, as they are anywhere else in the public sector ... that’s why, watching from the outside, the issue of senior executive pay has looked so toxic for the institution as a whole.’

He insisted the broadcaster should reflect 'the full breadth of opinion that exists on most controversial topics'.

And he said any mistakes in its reporting were an 'assault on our own values', warning that episodes like these risked undermining its 'brave journalism'.

Referring to 19th-century French writer Gustave Flaubert, he said: 'We should also listen hard to those who accuse us of drowning our viewers and listeners in a small metropolitan pond of stereotypes and prejudices, what Flaubert called “received ideasâ€