I make a point not to watch the BBC anymore and I hate that I have to pay them regardless. If I wanted to be told what to think I'd have a one-sided conversaton with my socialist grandmother. The end result would be exactly the same except I don't have to pay for it.

Ollie, London,

I agree wth much of what has been said. The BBC behave like "little Englanders" being condescending to the Russians as well as the US. In fact much of their output tends to be anti American/ Russian/ Chinese , anti Car and constant nanny state lectures from smug presenters. Their ethos is you are free and liberal as long you think how we tell you to.

adrian, Southampton,

Similar attitudes prevail at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, permeated throughout by a soft left/trendy left bias. Apologist David Salter (ex-ABC) claims in a recent book that there is no inherent bias, it's just that the ABC attracts as staff people from similar backgrounds with similar views!

Faustino, Brisbane, Australia

I would love to be able to switch off entirely from BBC News but I can't. I am legally required to pay the licence fee.

Michael, Surbiton,

Shouldn't that be 'Awful as Frei is .....'?

Bwhitjo, Hurstpierpoint,

It says much for American tolerance that someone of the bias and conceit of Frei is permitted to continue in the indulgence of his contempt for the United States, to the discredit of an increasingly discredited BBC. Like other Brits of his kind, you can bet his contempt doesn't extend to the acceptance of as many dollars as he can pocket.

David Russell, Sheffield, South Yorkshire

I know just how you feel.

Mark Lyndon, London, UK

Yes this man is an absolute disgrace. It's not just politics however, it is also Christianity. He intervd the pastor at the university college shootings. It was obviously a quiet news spot and he thought he might fill in a couple of minutes with fluffy padding. The pastor began by condemning the tragedy and expressing his condolences to the families but then began, 'But there's good news too, because Jes....'. Before he could finish the sentence he rudely pulled the mike away and more or less booted the guy off the scene. All the man wanted to do was to offer spiritual comfort. He was a mild mannered man and accepted very benignly this ruffian behaviour. It was really embarassing.

MBC, Edinburgh, UK

I have learnt to treat to treat BBC news and current affairs commentary with suspicion, they certainly have their own world view. They really really dont like Bush and if I see yet another report on the plight of Palestinians.................

George Harris, Cape Town,

Frei is from the same mould as his ghastly and equally loathsome predecessor, Stephen Sackur. Sackur's coverage of the 2000 elections for the BBC World Service used to have me throwing things at the television.

Chris Wheal, Moneta, Virginia

In today's world, who needs the beeb? Just because we pay 3.5 billion pounds a year for it doesn't mean we have to watch it or hear it.

steve h, cardiff, wales

Fantastic observation, Frei always comes across as somewhat desperate to imbue everything he spouts with a red tint. The BBC gets away with it far too often.

Kanwar Chohan, Beaconsfield, Bucks, UK

I agree entirely with Stephen Pollard's views on Frei and the BBC generally. But has he not read "Confessions of a Reformed BBC Producer" by Antony Jay? If not, he really should; then he will understand better exactly where they are all "coming from". A critique of Jay's booklet by Stephen Pollard would be very entertaining as well as a means of correcting that corporation's policies. They are in dire need of it.

Martin Rowe, Kirtlington, Oxon., England

Stephen Pollard writes about the BBC having an agenda, fair enough, however, we should keep in mind that the US army and politicians are just as capable of having an agenda. What we have here are two 'witnesses' to a car crash, their stories may somewhat differ, but the mess of Iraq is not in doubt. The Republicans inspired America caused that, now they cannot fix it. Lets not allow our criticisms of the BBC to cloud those facts.

James, London, England

Why does anyone listen to the BBC now?

The liberal bias is so obvious (and confirmed by a recent internal report) that we can no longer expect balanced reporting. Why complain.

Why pay for a Licence.

I dont.

Geoff M, Bromsgrove, England

"unlikely that the entire US military high command was engaged in a conspiracy to lie to the world" In military hierarchy the high command usually do lie to the people, largely because they don't know what's going on. The same thing happens in the workplace (and politics) where the minions try to paint overly optimistic versions of reality to their bosses, which then get more highly polished the further up the pyramid they go. What emerges at the top pays only lip service to the world that real people live in. And this is what is then used for policy making. Hence Vietnam, Iraq and our NHS.

Mike Poulsen, Reading, Berkshire

Matt Frei merely mirrors the anti-American and anti- Republican party ethos of the whole BBC. This causes tremendous harm and their biased opinions and attitudes fail to accurately reflect facts or news as everything is 'spun'. I would like to blame the socialists but it's probably just the fault of successive governments interfering to gain short term political advantage at the expese of the 'real' truth.

Riley, Kiev, Ukraine

You mean to say someone actually listens all the way through a Frei report! For me its the cue to see what's on the other side.

Sparks, UK,

Does anyone watch BBC World?

I live in Norway and occasionally view the channel that broadcasts to the rest of the world.

The bias is SO blatant that, as a brit, I'm really embarrassed by it. Norwegian TV news really is just that. They give you the facts and let you formulate your own opinion. The BBC it seems give you their opinion first and then furnish you with the selected facts to fit.

What are they about now!!!?

Mark, Oslo,

Perhaps Mr Frei is in training for the post seemingly still left vacant by the BBC in Gaza.
He certainly has the cv required for that assignment.

Peter Bolt, Redditch, UK

I gave up listening to the BBC and Five Live's content on Iraq a long time ago. It is a scandal they have been allowed to get away with it for so long. Mark Thompson needs to get a grip before more people like me, who used to support the licence fee throuogh thick and thin, decide the level of bias abuse has rendered it unworkable.

jonathan anthony, london,

Stephen - it's a great article, not just the facts, which usually are depressing considering the damage the BBC does with its bias, but the humour you injected into it. Simply terrific!

Ted Berra, Leatherhead, Surrey

This was not an editorial decision at all, but a blatant political one to air all those anti-war sentiments. When wlll people learn that the BBC is very left-wing and hates America, the Republican Party and George Bush.

Graeme, Canterbury , Britain

It doesn't surprise me that Stephen Pollard's views were not allowed on air. After one of Matt Frei's more virulent attacks on George Bush after the Katrina hurricane I wrote to the appropriate BBC web site I wrote that if a farmer standing in a cornfield in Kansas was killed by a meteorite, Frei would find a way of blaming the President. Needless to say it wasn't published.

Rob Hirst, London,

Spot on,I am finding it almost impossible to listen to BBC news reporting,it is either lightweight or slanted or both!

Phil Tomlinson, Bromsgrove, UK