Source : The Sunday Telegraph

The trouble is, in my experience, a BBC employee would rather have his or her tongue removed with a rusty penknife than reveal his or her true political colours. And good for them, too, in a way, even if they do get rather shirty when anyone tries to guess what those colours might be. Remember when Nigel Lawson, the then Chancellor, dared to presume, live on air, that Brian Redhead voted Labour? The furious Today presenter called for a minute's silence after which the Chancellor was supposed to apologise for his outrageous presumption.

My point is not so much that I think there is an institutionalised bias in the BBC towards the liberal, progressive Left, but that the BBC clearly believes there is. It knows perfectly well, as it were, which way Brian dresses. And this in turn makes it seem shifty, defensive and prone to over compensation.

Consider the way BBC News went easy on Iain Duncan Smith for fear of seeming biased when, if there had been a Tory voter sitting in the editor's chair, it would surely have given the hapless Duncan Smith a good kicking.

It is surprising, then, to read that, as part of its new charter, the BBC must agree to broadcast "fair and balanced" news. Already it can seem too "fair and balanced", for which read "bland and overly cautious".

Seemingly after every big news event nowadays the BBC has a post mortem to determine whether it was being impartial enough, or whether it might have caused offence, or if it was being too hesitant in its reporting (as it decided it had been over its tsunami coverage, bizarrely enough).

If you want ballsy, provocative, red-meat news and comment these days you have to turn to Channel 4 News, which is unashamedly Left of centre, or Sky News, which tends to lean to the Right.

The question is, what can the BBC do about its crisis of confidence and identity? Well, sacking its Chairman and Director General, both of whom made donations to the Labour Party, was a good start. Now it should look at its recruitment policy lower down.

I'm not saying the BBC should return to the old days of employing undercover MI5 spooks to monitor the pinkos in its workforce, but maybe it could adapt its positive discrimination policies to keep up with the times. Alongside its staff quotas for ethnic minorities and the disabled, it could have a quota for Tories. Just two or three might be enough to start with.

In time, as these Tories worked their way up the ladder and took on positions of authority, the BBC would find itself becoming more relaxed about its corporate identity, and this in turn would lead to it being more confident in its presentation of news.

Security on the Eurostar has always been fairly tight, with its airport-style X-ray machines and body searches, but now, as I discovered on a trip to Paris the other day, is has adopted the "plastic cutlery and cups only" rule you find on airlines, presumably as a precaution against terrorists. Thankfully, though, the French can't resist indulging in a little light resistance.

When we crossed over onto their soil I got a craving for champagne: just the one, to enter into the Gallic spirit. The waitress at the bar reached for a plastic cup and then hesitated. Her French sensibilities were clearly offended by the thought of champagne being poured into a plastic cup.

She bit her lip thoughtfully, disappeared round the corner and reappeared with a proper glass. It must have been her own because, with a look over her shoulder, she asked me to return it to her when I had finished. Vive la difference.

I know John Redwood has been the "Shadow Secretary of State for Deregulation" for some time now, but it still comes as a shock to hear him introduced that way, as he was on the radio on Friday morning. It is a preposterous title, not least because there is no Secretary of State for Deregulation for him to shadow.

Is it some cruel joke at his expense, one which he, being a Vulcan, doesn't get? I do hope not. The thought of Michael Howard and the rest of the gang sniggering behind his back is just unbearable.

© The Sunday Telegraph