But in Cardiff and Swansea there was nothing like the hatred and bitterness, Irishness being mixed up with Roman Catholicism, which afflicted Liverpool, Glasgow and, to a certain extent, Manchester. These emotions persist to this day, even if in a much less extreme form, with the different "traditions" - to use the modern, emollient word - represented by football teams. The lay-offs will save £355m, which will go back into production, but it seems the height of insensitivity to award highly paid executives extra cash.The chairman, Michael Grade, claims that the BBC matches the average salary in the private sector across the board. But the kudos of working for the BBC means that when people leave they are highly sought after. Why can't executives be paid straight salaries like the workforce? The staff don't get bonuses if they do their jobs well, make programmes on time and on budget It stinks. The deputy director-general, Mark Byford, earned £457,000 in total - hardly a figure he'd merit outside the cosy world of Auntie.Grade says bonuses will be cut to 10 per cent in future, but execs will get a salary rise of 2 per cent and a further 10 per cent "consolidation".
Get rid of this overpaid bunch and get substitute people who work for a straight salary TV and radio is bursting with talent No one is irreplaceable I despair of the BBC sometimes More from Janet Street-Porter. One of the little-regarded achievements of South Wales in its imperial age was the happy way in which it absorbed the immigrants from Ireland. True, there were anti-Irish riots in Monmouthshire in the 1880s. Do these pompous people ever find BBC output anything other than acceptable? It's yet another round of back-slapping.
The governors have approved the disgraceful amount of £546,000 to be paid in bonuses to the BBC executive board at a time when 4,000 people are to be made redundant. Offer meal deals, keep your caf?and pubs open longer, set up farmers' and craft markets selling local produce, and tell people where they can picnic and what attractions they can see. You have to go and persuade them to visit you - the rural economy depends on attracting everyone, not just the middle-class and middle-aged.* * *The BBC governors announce in their annual report that they are "broadly positive" about the corporation's programming How bloody predictable. And the people who do are often eking out a living as hill farmers. The future for them will be to diversify into tourism, and that means welcoming "incomers" and not regarding them with suspicion. This process is not going to be helped one jot by reports and government "initiatives".
