Ivan Lewis is wrong to meddle with the BBC

When South Africa wants to put MPs in charge of press freedom, there's a wholly justifiable fuss. Ditto Hungary, and Hungarian members of parliament. It's a bad idea, putting party politics stage centre. Yet when Ivan Lewis, the shadow culture minister, seeks to make MPs (and cross-party deals) responsible for choosing the next chairman of the BBC Trust , nobody makes the same connection. But it's still a very bad idea.