This country does not only nationalise lame ducks like Northern Rock. It is willing to buy healthy businesses, too. The BBC has acquired Lonely Planet, the travel books publisher, which has guided generations of backpackers along the hippie trail across Asia and beyond. It’s the biggest ever deal for BBC Worldwide, the corporation’s commercial arm, and a departure from its stated aim of maximising the value of the BBC’s assets around the world for the benefit of the licence-payer. The marriage of Aussie free spirits with White City suits may produce interesting fruit, though no financial details have been released. In due course licence-payers will deserve an explanation of how this deal makes financial sense.

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