In contrast, the DCMS was instrumental in ‘liberalising’ gambling which does little but damage people’s lives.

Culture is not only about powerful wealthy lobbies for money making entertainment activities. It is also about the little guys for whom making music with others for free is important and having to deal with micro controlling legislation is totally unwelcome and unwarranted.

My comment is nothing to do with this. It is simply to express my utter dismay at your recent comments on the BBC. The failure of you and the Labour Party that I have supported all of my life to express support for public service broadcasting is an act of singular betrayal. That the BBC should be attacked by a Labour minister when it is in the middle of a golden age of broadcasting, provided more cheaply and efficiently than any other system in the world, brings comfort only to the its many corporate and ideological enemies. The BBC represents all that the cultural policy of an enlightened social democratic party should be championing. Abolition of the licence fee would hand broadcasting to the global media conglomerates, send costs soaring, menace objective journalism and ruin a flagship institution of our society. Perhaps you can tell me what my licence fee would get me from some of the BBC’s rivals. Three months of Sky Sports as far as I can see.

Thank you at least for helping me decide how to vote.

Without meaning to sound too biased, it’s worth mentioning that both our PM and the Leader of the Opposition have been through the same thing - yet one chooses to exploit it on live television for political means… Where’s the integrity in that?

How can the Lib Dem council show such a ludicrous lack of leadership and of strategy? Pathetic. I’d rather disagree with the Council, frankly, than laugh at them.

Do we expect our visitors to buy a house before they visit, so that they have a toilet they can use while they’re here? Or are they meant to sneak into McDonalds and hope the staff aren’t watching?

The Lib Dem ‘leadership’ make us all look like clowns.

But their councillors are very good at giving the impression of being incredibly busy and effective. When they’re not posing for photos near wonky lampposts and/or street signs, I think they must spend most of their time knocking on doors in their wards. If I had a hundred pounds for everyone I’ve canvassed (in Gloucester mostly) who’d told me what a fine bloke (all bar one are blokes) their LibDemward councillor is, I have enough to fund loads of leaflets!

Thank you very much for your post, and the concerns you express in it regarding appropriate use of Lottery funds. If I may reassure you straightaway, not one penny of Lottery funds has been invested in the film or television dramas supported by Screen Yorkshire. The funding that Screen Yorkshire uses for production investment comes from the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward.

Screen Yorkshire receives approximately £250,000 per year in Lottery funds, via the UK Film Council, to support Yorkshire-based events, individuals and activities, for example Bradford International Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, film societies, community film making and youth education projects. The ethos of these investments is public benefit – increasing provision, supporting local organisations, providing services – and Screen Yorkshire takes very seriously its role as custodian of these funds in ensuring public value. Yorkshire has the broadest range of film festivals in the country, and Screen Yorkshire is committed to ensuring that they improve year on year in the service they offer the public. Lottery funds also go towards innovative programmes such as rural touring cinemas that enable communities without cinemas or easy access to urban centres to hold regular screenings in community centres and village halls.

Yorkshire Forward funds Screen Yorkshire to invest strategically in the growth of the film, television, games and new media sector, and as a result of these investments Screen Yorkshire has succeeded in creating or safeguarding over 900 jobs in Yorkshire and Humber, and attracting over £50m of investment into the region. At a time when ITV plc has massively reduced its presence in Yorkshire, shedding hundreds of jobs in the process, I believe that the productions supported by Screen Yorkshire have made a significant contribution to ensuring both that Yorkshire is represented on screen, and that the remarkable talent that Yorkshire continues to produce is not lost forever.

I agree that the Red Riding Trilogy paints a dark picture of Yorkshire, but the many films and television programmes part-funded by Screen Yorkshire also include the iconic Brideshead Revisited, the joyous re-invention of Pride and Prejudice that is Lost In Austen, the BAFTA-winning This Is England, and the recently acclaimed Wuthering Heights. They all contribute in different ways to the diversity of cultural expression in and representation of the region.

Can I also say that Screen Yorkshire does not subsidise the commercial television channels through its support for programmes. It invests on a commercial basis in their export and sales value, and in the case of Red Riding this investment has not only provided employment to over 100 people from Yorkshire and brought millions of pounds into the regional economy, but will also be repaid in full from international sales, which will allow Screen Yorkshire to re-invest these funds in the future