British broadcasting is sliding towards monochromic mediocrity. Counterintuitive as it may sound, the best way to rescue it would be to cut funding for the BBC and share out the proceeds of the licence fee.

Neither of these propositions looms large in the government’s vision of the nation’s digital future. Ministers offer only the smallest nod towards reining in the BBC monopoly. But, at this point in the electoral cycle, it is easier to promise a high-speed broadband connection for every voter than to pick a fight with the national broadcaster. David Cameron’s Conservatives are far too timid to say anything radical.