Tories are trying to diminish us, claims BBC boss
Licence fee under threat in ministers’ review
THE BBC was locked in a war of words with ministers last night over new Government plans designed to cut the Corporation down to size.
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale is poised to begin a ‘root and branch’ consultation this week, which will examine whether to scrap the licence fee, axe the BBC’s governing trust and cut back its online activities.
However, BBC director-general Lord Hall accused the Tories of trying to ‘diminish’ the Corporation for their ‘own narrow interests’.
The review will look at its commitment to ‘impartiality’, following Conservative complaints that the broadcaster showed persistent anti-Tory bias during the election campaign. Mr Whittingdale is also concerned that the BBC devotes too many resources to ratings-grabbing programmes such as The Voice, which could be delivered by commercial broadcasters.
‘He thinks those sort of programmes are the first that should go,’ said a source at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The latest move follows a dramatic decision earlier this month to force the BBC to bear the £650million-a-year cost of providing free TV licences to the over-75s.
Lord Hall, who faced criticism within the Corporation over the deal on free licences, warned yesterday that the BBC is facing ‘a period of high risk’ and said decisions over its future ‘should be taken out of the political cycle’. ‘Despite noises to the contrary, the BBC is as independent today as it has ever been,’ he said. ‘There has been no fundamental change in the relationship between government and corporation. Nor will there be under my watch.’
Mr Whittingdale yesterday appointed a panel of eight advisers to lead the review. It includes longtime critics of the BBC, such as former Channel 5 boss Dawn Airey, who has called for a cut in the licence fee, and Dame Colette Bowe, former head of the media regulator Ofcom, who may push for the BBC to come under its remit. Other panel members include Arts Council England boss Darren Henley, Johnston Press chief exec- utive Ashley Highfield and journalism professor Stewart Purvis – a former editor-in-chief of ITN.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: ‘It’s a rootand-branch look at everything the BBC does. It will cover funding, governance, its news content, its creative output, how much independent companies can do. You can expect it to look at impartial- ity, but also at the wider landscape in terms of local newspapers.
‘Everyone accepts that the BBC Trust model doesn’t work. So it needs to change.’
Government sources said reform of the BBC was long overdue, following years of scandals and changes in the public’s viewing habits. But Labour’s culture spokesman Chris Bryant accused the Tories of trying to ‘destroy’ the BBC, while a Corporation source rejected claims that it uses its financial muscle to chase ratings and crowd out competition.
The source added: ‘In a world where broadcasting is increasingly global, it is important for Britain that we have a strong, vibrant and successful creative sector and the BBC has been a key driver of delivering that.’
‘A root and branch review’