Staying with a pastor and his wife in rural Denmark gave me three enduring memories. I was about nine. Helga, the pastor’s wife must have been a very early au pair, and had been my father’s nanny circa 1930.

Gorging on large, ripe gooseberries in the fruit garden was the first! The second was the concealed cellar, created to hide escaping allied airmen during the Second World War. And the third was hearing how, when Denmark was occupied by the Nazi filth, family and friends huddled around the radio every evening listening to the BBC World Service.

Had the cellar been found by the Gestapo, or the family betrayed, Helga and her husband would have had a one-way trip to a Concentration Camp. During a very dark and difficult time, the BBC brought them news they could trust; not propaganda but a beacon of hope that there was a better future.

So it is a tragedy to hear of the trouble the BBC has now got itself into. At its best, the BBC was, and should be, one of our great institutions. Blessed by guaranteed revenue streams, and divorced from direct political or commercial control, the BBC’s duty was neatly defined by Lord Reith, its first Director General; “to inform, educate and entertain”. All three demand high editorial standards and a focus on impartiality.

Some people are trying turn this into a left versus right argument. I think it runs rather deeper than that. And we must always accept that good people make genuine mistakes. But good people apologise for their mistakes and put things right, not when they are caught out, but when the mistake is brought to their attention.

I completely accept that there is room for genuine differences in opinion on trans rights issues and climate change. It was (to me) more concerning that the BBC seemed willing to take the words of Hamas to be gospel truth in Gazza, whilst rather too easily dismissing what the Israeli Government had to say. But the deliberate negative editing of Donald Trump’s speech was unforgivable in terms of the required editorial standards.

We are all perfectly at liberty to loathe everything about Donald Trump, but the BBC cannot present itself as an international paragon of balance, neutrality and honesty whilst performing at that level. Senior BBC management knew of this egregious error months ago and chose to do nothing. That Panorama programme was not an act of omission; it was an act of deliberate commission, and for senior players at the BBC to dismiss it as an error of judgement, a political coup or a “right wing” plot simply confirms a deluded sense of elitism.

The BBC has for too long been captured by groupthink. We are all at risk of becoming consumed by our own virtue (those on the left seem particularly at risk of this), and then it’s just a little step to arrogantly dismiss any opinion that doesn’t conform to your

orthodoxy. Reinforcing the certainty of self-virtue, what’s wrong with manipulating the evidence to suit your narrative?

Well actually, quite a lot; institutionalised intolerance can lead humanity to very dark places. Helga Berg bore witness to that. When Europe was close to being consumed by evil, one country (our country) kept the flame of hope alive. The BBC brought light to the darkness We should all feel deep pride in what our national broadcaster was, and should continue to be; a genuine force for good.

Some of the senior players at the BBC need to take a long hard look into the mirror; if brave enough to do so, they will see the problem.