BBC scandals stoking crisis of distrust, say Paxman and Marr

Despite all the alleged uncertainties, there are a lot of certainties in relation to the BBC's current position: the licence fee settlement has been resolved for the next few years and a portion of the BBC is moving to Salford. Therefore it shouldn't be rocket science to know in advance how much money needs to be spent and how much needs to be saved.

Instead of making yet another speech about future cutbacks which achieves little apart from creating yet more uncertainty, Mark Thompson needs to show some initative, take the proverbial bull by the horns and resolve any remaining financial problems before the end of this year. At this point in time, BBC staff need all the support and encouragement that they can get.

Then the head count should be frozen by January 2008 with the guarantee that anyone working for the BBC will still be working for the corporation in four years' time (unless of course they get implicated in a 'major scandal'). This will stop staff worrying about their own future and allows them to concentrate on the task in hand, namely making programmes.

All this needs to be done first and foremost as a matter of urgency, because without trust within the BBC it's going to be extremely difficult to restore any missing trust with its viewers and listeners. You can't really have one without the other, and Mark Thompson also ought to remember that staff working under intense pressure are more prone to making mistakes.