THE BBC captured the spirit and atmosphere of the 70th anniversary of D-Day perfectly last week with its coverage in Normandy. Led by Huw Edwards, it was beautiful television and summed up all the culture of this country and what the essence of being British is all about.

In my life the BBC represented and reflected the people of this country, and for me has been the most influential of all the British institutions. Which raises the question as to where the BBC is going from here and who actually owns it?

It has been leaked that David Cameron is considering appointing Lord Coe as chairman of the BBC Trust to replace Lord Patten, who to me has been a disaster.

Lord (Seb) Coe did a brilliant job with the London 2012 Olympics, but he is a former Conservative politician. I thought the BBC was supposed to be separated from politics and totally independent? The Conservative and Labour party do not own the BBC, the British people should, or ought to.

In the last 25 years it has only had one decent Director General, Greg Dyke. Because of all the political meddling and serious incompetence of senior management, the BBC has been dismantled by stealth and is now only a pale shadow of where it used to be. The staff deserve better. The way it’s been run I would say it’s in danger of being sold off.

The people leading it should be broadcasters who can handle politicians and who are respected like David Dimbleby, Jeremy Paxman or Andrew Marr.

Keith Massey, Mill Lane, York.