The idea that Colin Grant was ‘hostile’ at the BBC is laughable

Colin Grant. ‘There are many like him at the BBC, and thank God for that,’ writes Jonathan Kent. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

I was stunned, and mildly envious, to discover that Colin Grant “has the record for the most disciplinary hearings ever brought against a BBC employee (four)” (My father ruled through pain’: Colin Grant on the stories behind I’m Black So You Don’t Have to Be, 11 January).

I had the absolute pleasure of reporting periodically for the technology programme he produced for the BBC World Service called, variously, Go Digital, Digital Planet and Click. He was invariably softly spoken, thoughtful and erudite, and I always looked forward to working with him. The suggestion that he exhibited “a pattern of behaviour which might be regarded as aggressive [and] can be perceived as hostile, in terms of your tone of voice or body language” just made me chuckle. I assume that’s a way of saying that someone has a low tolerance for gratuitous bullshit.

Colin would be part of my Exhibit A for why we should continue to fund the BBC as a peerless national resource and our most effective source of global soft power. There are many like him at the BBC, and thank God for that.
Jonathan Kent
Wadhurst, Sussex