The defining problem of contemporary television is trust: Can you believe what you see on television, does television treat people fairly, is it healthy for society?

It would be unforgivable to use the role I have, such as it is, to inflict my incoherent, half-baked view of the world on people. That would be illegitimate and unacceptable and I should be fired.

The idea of a tax on the ownership of a television belongs in the 1950s. Why not tax people for owning a washing machine to fund the manufacture of Persil?

The early bird may get the worm, but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Television bosses should stop insulting the public's intelligence by assuming we are all idiots.

Scepticism is a necessary and vital part of the journalist's toolkit. But when scepticism becomes cynicism it can close off thought and block the search for truth.

It seems to me that the way to remove people's cynicism is, when asked a straight question, to give a straight answer.