The sinister reason why the Murdoch press is attacking the BBC

One person I have been feeling a little sorry for over the past few days is Charles Moore, editor of the Daily Telegraph. His newspaper was a fervent supporter of the war against Iraq. I think we may say that it was motivated entirely by ideological concerns. There was no commercial benefit for the Telegraph in taking an aggressively pro-American line. Indeed, I believe many of its readers may have been disquieted. But the Telegraph never wavered. Before, during and after the war it has offered a strong case for taking on Saddam Hussein.

All Mr Moore’s instincts of decency will have been aroused by the suicide of Dr David Kelly. In normal circumstances the paper would have cheerfully joined any posse hunting down the likes of Geoff Hoon, Alastair Campbell and Tony Blair. Mr Moore will have understood the depths to which this government has sunk. The trouble is that the Telegraph has castigated the BBC for what it regards as its subversive reporting of the war.