Brits won't want to pay licence fee to not-fit-for-purpose BBC as Rachel Reeves rinses us

With the runes clear that Rachel Reeves is coming after hard-working middle earners, now more than ever is a time to be cautious about how we spend our money. Not least about the TV licence fee. As one friend said to me only yesterday: "Do I really want to shell out £175 quid for something I barely use?" She has a point. Box set drama dished up by Netflix provides plenty of entertainment (And if you fancy watching an old episode of Morecambe and Wise, YouTube normally obliges.) But most significantly, in offering peerless, unbiased news reporting, sadly, infuriatingly, the BBC can no longer deliver.

In the latest example of egregious prejudice within our state broadcaster, its so-called-flagship investigative programme Panorama has been accused of doctoring a speech by Donald Trump to make it appear the President encouraged the Capitol Hill riot (in fact he had called for a peaceful march.) Thanks to a blistering investigation by The Telegraph - hurray for the integrity of print journalism - we now know that the BBC is capable of tactical editing to pursue its own agenda.

Thing is that Trump is perfectly capable of falling on his own sword. As Napoleon famously said, never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Given the president's motor-mouth tendencies, that time may well come (though, for all his faults, I hope not - he is, in his own way, the only person on the planet capable of showing dogged leadership).

So was this just a slip of the scissors by a busy editor on a tight time frame? Given that Panorama's brand is unflinching scrutiny, it hardly rings true.

Instead it plays to a wider truth. That the BBC continues to rot from within and fail in its charter's obligation to deliver, in their words "the highest level of impartiality [in] news and journalism in all its forms, giving due weight to events, opinion and the main strands of argument."

Look no further than its relentless bias in reporting of the Gaza war. From decorated correspondents such as Jeremy Bowen mistakenly blaming Israel for a strike on a hospital in the strip (it was in fact a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad) then refusing to apologise.

To the news this week from a former external advisor to the BBC that negative reports about Israel "appeared to race to air without adequate checks" as part of a desire from staff "to always believe the worst" about the country's actions.

Meanwhile Ofcom last month concluded that the BBC committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the son of a Hamas official.

Any wonder that last year, more than 200 people from the TV and film industry signed a letter to the BBC board calling for an urgent investigation into what they described as "systemic problems of antisemitism and bias" at the corporation.

Even if you don't care about Middle East politics, be mindful that such distorted reporting provides ammunition to antisemites, who are only too willing to project their hatred onto UK soil.

The harrowing attack at a Manchester synagogue - where I was married and which has been associated with my family for decades - shows just how real the danger is. Is this the kind of country we want to live in?

There's no pleasure in writing this. I grew up with the BBC. Aside from its peerless drama and the fact Top of the Pops was the most exciting point of the week, it was the place to turn at times of national importance. It was the country`s most significant voice.

What makes this more frustrating is that the corporation is aware of the perpetual complaints. Yet still they bat away the roll call of mistakes either with fey defence or promises to learn. As a result the drip of controversy points to the fact that Auntie is undeserving of its audience's trust.

So what's needed? A change of leadership at the top? Better training? Move to a subscription model? Perhaps all of this and more.

But there is only so long the BBC can keep succumbing to so-called flashpoints

It needs to be both neutral and relevant. Sadly it is failing at both - that`s a lot to spend £175 on .