the times | Saturday April 30 2022 31
Leading articles
fuelling fears the economy may be sliding into
recession. Those concerns were heightened by
data showing the US economy shrank by 1.4 per
cent in the first quarter this year.
There’s no question that a rapid rise in interest
rates will increase the risk of recession, deepening
the cost-of-living crisis for households already
struggling. Indeed, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor,
will have struck fear in the hearts of many home-
owners when he warned that interest rates are
likely to rise to 2.5 per cent over the next year,
which would add £700 per annum to the cost of an
average mortgage. Businesses too, already hit by
more costs and reduced demand, would face
higher borrowing costs, increasing the risk of job
losses. Recession fears are taking their toll on the
pound, which has suffered its biggest fall against
the dollar since 2016.
Yet the Bank will need to weigh this risk against
the consequences of not acting decisively to quell
the inflationary threat. The real danger is that
while inflation may have been driven by a series of
one-off shocks, which should prove short-lived,
the persistence of higher inflation could become
embedded in expectations of what will happen in
the future. That will make it more likely that
employees will push for pay rises, triggering awage-price spiral. Already there has been a sharp
rise in industrial action by unions refusing to
accept pay awards below inflation. And with un-
employment back to a pre-pandemic low of 3.9 per
cent and job vacancies at a record high amid post-
pandemic and post-Brexit labour shortages, em-
ployees have considerable bargaining power.
The reality is that the Bank cannot afford to be
complacent about this risk of a wage-price spiral.
As the experience of the 1970s showed and the
public is rediscovering, high inflation is deeply
corrosive to living standards. It also acts as a strong
disincentive to investment as firms find it impossi-
ble to plan ahead. And the longer higher inflation
persists, the stronger the monetary and fiscal
medicine needed to cure it. It took a series of deep
recessions and prolonged periods of high unem-
ployment in the seventies, eighties and early nine-
ties to cure Britain of its inflationary disease.
We can only hope such painful remedies will not
be needed this time. The key remains the credibili-
ty of the Bank and public confidence in its ability
to bring inflation back to its target, thereby limit-
ing the cost-of-living crisis. That credibility has
taken a knock with its missteps over the past year.
Next week’s meeting is an opportunity to claw it
back.ration. Because everyone who watches TV has to
pay, the BBC has sought to be all things to all
people, and in the process only satisfied some. A
recent YouGov poll indicated that only 5 per cent
of those aged 18-30 watched any live BBC pro-
gramming. It has instead become attractive, and
then only in part, to a mainly middle-aged and
elderly audience. The price of this quest for view-
ing figures has been to make programmes often
indistinguishable from those available on com-
mercial and streaming services. A populist strate-
gy that is not popular is the worst of all worlds. It
is also a recipe for discontent to compel young
people to subsidise the viewing habits of their
parents and grandparents.
A sensible strategy would be to slim down con-
tent, do fewer things and do them better, and
abandon a rearguard defence of the licence fee.
There is no reason why alternative funding mod-
els should cause a decline in quality. The notion of
commercial funding is in fact consistent with the
BBC’s traditions; in its earliest days it was funded
by public subscription and paid a fixed dividend.
The most equitable model would be to enticeviewers to pay a subscription. But that would un-
doubtedly impact its annual income of £5 billion
and could damage its role as a public service
broadcaster. Introducing such a change needs to
be done carefully, as the debate over the planned
privatisation of Channel 4 suggests. There is a less
pressing case for this measure, as Channel 4 re-
ceives no public funding and has actively reinvest-
ed its profits in mainly British production compa-
nies, than for abolishing the BBC licence fee.
For the BBC a hybrid model may be appropriate
in which its public-service output would be funded
by subscription and possibly by government
grants. Similarly the BBC World Service should be
paid for from the foreign aid budget. It is a valuable
vehicle for “soft power” given its reputation for
reliable reporting set against the disinformation
peddled by autocratic regimes. That type of fund-
ing model sustains Voice of America, which is paid
for by the US government but is editorially inde-
pendent. The BBC is a historic institution but no
longer a monopoly. Forcing it to earn revenues by
attracting viewers, rather than forcing everyone to
pay for it, is overdue.Sensation is an overused word, especially in
sport, but that is what Boris Becker became when
he won Wimbledon in 1985 at the absurdly young
age of 17, the youngest man to win the prestigious
title. He featured in five of the next six singles
finals in SW19, winning two more titles. The club
tie he wore to court yesterday was well merited.
Both the British public and popular press took
Becker to their hearts, thrilled by his prowess on
court and rockstar lifestyle off it. Fame and wealth
certainly seemed to go to his head. Plainly, he had
too much, too young, which led to him having not
enough when he was no longer young. He beganmaking secret payments the very day after declar-
ing bankruptcy, the behaviour of a man who had
come to believe the normal rules and laws did not
apply to him.
Becker made £35 million over his career and
spent it all, plus some. He had a particular weak-
ness for Harrods, popping in the day before his
sentencing, still looking like an overgrown kid in a
sweetshop. While his many fans would echo his
elderly mother’s verdict that he is “a decent boy
overall” neither his affability, talent nor celebrity
shielded him from facing the consequences of
his crimes.Necessary Medicine
The economy is slowing even as inflation continues to rise. But that should not deter
the Bank of England from taking robust action to avert a looming wage-price spiral
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Commit-
tee will meet next week to decide whether or not
to raise interest rates. The answer appears to be a
foregone conclusion. The markets expect a
0.25 percentage point rise in bank rate to 1 per cent,
though some committee members may push for a
0.5 percentage point rise. Inflation is already at
6.2 per cent, driven by a nasty cocktail of post-
pandemic supply chain disruptions and energy
and commodity price rises driven by the war in
Ukraine. It is forecast to reach a 40-year high of
well above 8 per cent this year. Having been
proved wrong in its assessment that high inflation
would be short-lived, the Bank has little option but
to act decisively now. The bigger question is how
far and how fast interest rates will need to rise to
bring inflation back to its 2 per cent target.
That question has certainly got harder amid
grim economic data over the past few weeks,
which show the economy slowing even as prices
continue to rise. The latest surveys reveal con-
sumer confidence in April sank to its second low-
est level on record, while for those on basic in-
comes, confidence has fallen even below levels in
the depths of the global financial crisis. Household
expectations of their financial situation have simi-
larly fallen to record lows. Retails sales are falling,Losing the Licence
The BBC needs to slim down and adopt a different funding model
When Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary,
indicated in January that the BBC licence fee
would in time be abolished, the BBC presenter
Dan Walker posted on social media the words
“43p a day”. His non sequitur exemplifies the
obstacles to rational discussion of the BBC, one of
Britain’s great institutions yet one that needs its
content and funding reformed. The issue is not the
cost of the licence fee but whether a compulsory
levy for watching or listening to programmes is an
appropriate funding model in the digital age.
A government white paper this week said there
were “clear challenges on the horizon to the sus-
tainability of the licence fee”. The government is
right to plan to change the way the corporation is
funded after 2027, when the royal charter finishes.
The licence fee, enforceable by law, is an anachro-
nism that imposes arbitrary costs on people who
may never watch its programmes.
The days when television comprised three or
four terrestrial channels are long gone. Now there
are multiple channels, some free to air and some
charging subscriptions, and many producing qual-
ity content that surpasses the output of the corpo-The Other Boris
The former tennis champion is paying the price for his deceit
Boris Becker gave pleasure to millions, both as a
vibrant young athlete and an engaging middle-
aged broadcaster. His exalted status as the
Eighties wunderkind of tennis could not, however,
protect him from a jail sentence yesterday. Nor
should it have done. This month Becker was found
guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act of
concealing assets from his bankruptcy trustees in- That conviction followed a heavy fine and
suspended sentence for tax evasion in his native
Germany. In the business of living beyond his
means, and lying about his finances to do so,
Becker had form.
Daily Universal Register
UK: Coronavirus test sites in Scotland close
from today; World Snooker Championship
semi-finals at the Crucible, Sheffield; Army v
Navy rugby match at Twickenham.
Lord (Kim) Darroch of
Kew, pictured, UK
ambassador to the US
(2016-19), prime
minister’s national
security adviser (2012-15),
68; Jacques Audiard,
film-maker, Paris, 13th
District (2021), 70; John Boyne, novelist, The
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2006), 51;
Jonathan Brownlee, triathlete, six-time world
champion, Olympic gold medallist (2020,
mixed team relay), 32; Jane Campion, film-
maker, first female film director to win the
Palme d’Or, The Piano (1983), 68; Andrew
Carwood, director of music, St Paul’s
Cathedral, 57; Sir Geoffrey Cox QC,
Conservative MP for Torridge and West
Devon, attorney-general (2018-20), 62;
Dickie Davies, presenter, World of Sport
(1968-85), 89; Kirsten Dunst, actress, the
Spider-Man trilogy (2002-07), 40; Rev Paul
Fiddes, professor of systematic theology,
University of Oxford, 75; Gal Gadot, actress,
Wonder Woman (2017), 37; King Carl XVI
Gustaf of Sweden, 76; António Guterres,
secretary-general of the United Nations, UN
high commissioner for refugees (2005-15),
prime minister of Portugal (1995-2002), 73;
Sheldon Harnick, lyricist, Fiddler on the Roof
(1964), and songwriter, 98; Stephen Harper,
prime minister of Canada (2006-15), 63; Lars
von Trier, film director, Melancholia (2011),
66; Sarah Tynan, opera singer, 46.
In 1975 Saigon fell to North Vietnamese
forces and was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
Dame Joanna Lumley,
pictured, actress,
Absolutely Fabulous
(1992-2012, film 2016),
and Gurkha campaigner,
76; Wes Anderson, film-
maker, Isle of Dogs
(2018), 53; Alan Belfield,
chairman, Arup Group (engineering
company), 66; Prof Sir Richard Blundell,
economist, 70; Sir Nigel Carrington,
chairman, Henry Moore Foundation, 66;
Steve Cauthen, jockey, three-time British
champion jockey (1984, 1985, 1987), 62; Lady
Sarah Chatto, artist, vice-president, the
Royal Ballet, 58; Judy Collins, singer, Send in
the Clowns (1975), and songwriter, 83; Rita
Coolidge, singer, (Your Love Has Lifted Me)
Higher and Higher (1977), 77; Alex
Cunningham, Labour MP for Stockton
North, shadow justice minister, 67; Jamie
Dornan, actor, the Fifty Shades film series
(2015-18), 40; Fiona Gilbert, radiologist,
professor of radiology, University of
Cambridge, 66; Sir Gordon Greenidge,
cricketer, West Indies (1974-91), 71; Sir
Nicholas Hilliard, High Court judge,
Recorder of London (2015-19), 63; Kim
Leadbeater, Labour MP for Batley and Spen,
46; Keith Leslie, chairman, Samaritans, 64;
Sir Kim Lewison, lord justice of appeal, 70;
Julian Mitchell, writer, Another Country
(1984), 87; Peter Phillips, chief executive,
Cambridge University Press & Assessment,
60; Paul Walsh, chairman, McLaren Group
(automotive, motorsport and technology),
Compass Group (2014-20), 67; Antony
Worrall Thompson, TV chef, 71.
“Mankind is so fallen that no man can be
trusted with unchecked power over his
fellows.” CS Lewis, author, scholar, essayist,
Equality (1943)
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