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The BBC Trust's twelve members claimed an average of £1,000 in expenses last year at the expense of TV viewers who are forced to buy a licence to watch TV.

Scotland's representative on the Board was the most expensive. Jeremy Peat claimed a total of £30,976, a monthly average of £2,581. This included £9,800 for air fares and £12,600 for hotels. The Financial Times commented that “Mr. Peat is not a a frequent flyer on no-frills airlines.”

Michael Lyons, a so-called knight who chairs the Trust, took £26,167 of licence holders' money. Rail fares accounted for £7,009 of this. He spent another £5,768 on cars in the course of 12 months and the Trust also contributed £25,000 to the cost of a BBC car and driver for him to use when in London. His hotel bills averaged £210 a night and totalled £8,000.

Another Trustee, Patricia Hodgson also presented a large bill for cars: £5,500. Ms. Hodgson's career has included long periods working for the BBC. Currently she is a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and a director of the Competition Commission.

TV viewers also paid for expensive televisions, DVD recorders and Sky satellite TV subscriptions for members of the Trust.

The Trust is the BBC's governing body. It claims that it “works on behalf of licence fee payers . . . and ensures good value for all UK citizens”.

It is illegal in the UK to watch the BBC, independent TV channels or satellite TV without a licence from the BBC.

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The end of feudalism in the British legislature may be delayed again. Justice minister Jack Straw has published the third discussion paper on House of Lords reform in seven years. But if he has his way there will be no more reform until after the general election, which may not be until 2010.

The Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats have agreed on some aspects of reform. But it is still possible that twenty per cent of the legislators will not be chosen by the people. This continued refusal to allow a basic democratic right to the people would be made worse by the inclusion in this twenty per cent of legislators appointed by the state Church of England.

The Labour Party wants those legislators who are elected to be chosen by the multi-seat party list system. This would reinforce the power of the major parties at the expense of the people by requiring voters to choose a list of candidates from one party or another, and not split their votes between parties if they wish.

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“Along with the BBC and the monarchy, the (national health) service has become part of the way in which we define what makes our country special.” So wrote Nicholas Timmins in the Financial Times on 30 June 2008.

Mr. Timmins went on to write that the five-year cancer survival rate in Britain is “well down the league table of developed countries.” The NHS also subjected some of its patients “to the humiliation of mixed sex wards”. Hundreds had died from infections contracted in hospital. Twenty per cent of patients say they are not treated with respect or dignity. And nearly twenty five per cent of those working in NHS hospitals say they would rather not have their own health cared for where they work.

Later the same day the news media reported the national disgrace that the amount of spending money (which come from the Duchy of Cornwall) given to the son of the head of state last year increased to £16m.

Special, maybe, but not good

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