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| Tory peer warns the BBC that it is 'not untouchable' | Tory peer warns the BBC that it is 'not untouchable' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Baroness Neville-Rolfe, the intellectual property minister, has said that the BBC is “not untouchable” and the £700m in cuts being forced on the corporation are “probably less” proportionately than what is being asked of government. | Baroness Neville-Rolfe, the intellectual property minister, has said that the BBC is “not untouchable” and the £700m in cuts being forced on the corporation are “probably less” proportionately than what is being asked of government. |
| The Tory peer, speaking in a debate on the future of the BBC in the House of Lords on Thursday, defended the government’s shotgun licence fee deal which will see the corporation take on the £700m cost of free TV licences for over-75s. | The Tory peer, speaking in a debate on the future of the BBC in the House of Lords on Thursday, defended the government’s shotgun licence fee deal which will see the corporation take on the £700m cost of free TV licences for over-75s. |
| “What is being asked of the BBC in terms of savings is not out of line, it’s probably less, than what is being asked of most government departments,” she said concluding a debate dominated by pro-BBC speakers. | “What is being asked of the BBC in terms of savings is not out of line, it’s probably less, than what is being asked of most government departments,” she said concluding a debate dominated by pro-BBC speakers. |
| “It is impossible to predict precisely how the media landscape will look in the years to come. No institution will be as good as it could be if it is seen to be untouchable. In a multimedia world the BBC needs to find its place, it has to improve, it has to build on the excellent strengths it has.” | “It is impossible to predict precisely how the media landscape will look in the years to come. No institution will be as good as it could be if it is seen to be untouchable. In a multimedia world the BBC needs to find its place, it has to improve, it has to build on the excellent strengths it has.” |
| She also argued against the notion that the government is looking to use the charter renewal process to force the BBC to stop covering certain types of programming. | She also argued against the notion that the government is looking to use the charter renewal process to force the BBC to stop covering certain types of programming. |
| Critics have argued the BBC should stop making big entertainment shows such as The Voice, and focus on more niche programming that commercial rivals are unlikely to want to produce due to poor low audiences and commercial returns. | Critics have argued the BBC should stop making big entertainment shows such as The Voice, and focus on more niche programming that commercial rivals are unlikely to want to produce due to poor low audiences and commercial returns. |
| “The government will never decide or dictate BBC content,” she said. “These are editorial decisions for the BBC. That is very important. However as part of an open and thorough consultative review we have to look at if every BBC intervention in the market is justified. We are seeking evidence about this. We will be commissioning more research on these impacts.” | “The government will never decide or dictate BBC content,” she said. “These are editorial decisions for the BBC. That is very important. However as part of an open and thorough consultative review we have to look at if every BBC intervention in the market is justified. We are seeking evidence about this. We will be commissioning more research on these impacts.” |
| Neville-Rolfe also defended the government’s advisory group on the charter renewal process, which has come in for criticism for having a potentially anti-BBC bias among its members, arguing that media criticism is “nonsense”. | Neville-Rolfe also defended the government’s advisory group on the charter renewal process, which has come in for criticism for having a potentially anti-BBC bias among its members, arguing that media criticism is “nonsense”. |
| “There has been nonsense written and said about the advisory group,” she said. “They are a volunteer group. It would be impossible to find a group with significant insight or current knowledge if everyone [currently] in the industry was ruled out. It would be a dereliction of duty.” | “There has been nonsense written and said about the advisory group,” she said. “They are a volunteer group. It would be impossible to find a group with significant insight or current knowledge if everyone [currently] in the industry was ruled out. It would be a dereliction of duty.” |
| She said that the eight-strong group has met once so far and will do so “approximately” every two months. | She said that the eight-strong group has met once so far and will do so “approximately” every two months. |
| Author and broadcaster Lord Bragg, a Labour peer, said that the government’s plans to cut the BBC down to size “could be called without exaggeration cultural vandalism”. | |
| “It could be the most damaging thing to have happened to the BBC in decades,” he said, criticising the government for making the BBC cover the cost of free TV licences for over-75s. “It ought to come out of general taxation, [it] has no connection to programme making. How can that be right. Where was the voice of the BBC Trust? This goes to the jugular [and] shows contempt for the licence fee payer.” | |
| Broadcaster Baroness Bakewell, who called the Lords debate, said the government deal was a “smash and grab raid” on the BBC. | |
| “The new settlement must outlaw any such smash and grab raids in the future,” she said. “The BBC is under attack, not from the public, but two other sources. The government of the day and vested media interests who command headlines and distort the wider public interest and concern [in the BBC].” | |
| Labour peer Lord Stevenson of Balmacara concurred, voicing concern about the motivations of the corporation’s rivals. | |
| “We are at the beginning of what looks like a quick and dirty charter renewal process. The real enemy is the huge international media companies,” he said. | |
| Labour peer Lord Alli, the former broadcasting executive, called for more investment in the BBC, warning that “once destroyed it can never be rebuilt”. | |
| “It is a mistake to believe [the BBC] is in competition with local newspapers, ITV, [Channel] 5, or Sky,” he added. “[It] faces US giants Google, Apple, US networks, [state broadcaster] CCTV in China and Netflix”. | |
| Former EastEnders star and Labour peer Lord Cashman called on the government to make public all submissions in the consultation process on a publicly accessible website. | |
| “There is a real and deep concern within the creative communities that the BBC is under attack – an attack it will not survive,” he said. “I endorse the recommendation … there should be a two-year extension of the [existing] charter to get this absolutely right so there can be no question of the motives of those involved.” | |
| Tory peer Lord Black of Brentwood, an executive director at the publisher of the Daily Telegraph, unsurprisingly repeated the UK newspaper industry call for curbs on the BBC’s digital news ambitions. | |
| “If [the BBC’s news ambitions are] not tackled it will be highly damaging to commercial news brands, if not lethal for many,” he said. “[The BBC has] a competitive advantage that is unsustainable if we are seeking a plural media market. Surely it is time to subject [the BBC] to market control over the terms of its impact. This charter review is the last opportunity to achieve durable reform to protect a plural media market.” |