Ex-BBC director general accuses government of ‘raiding finances’
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Version 0 of 1. Lord Birt has launched a staunch defence of the BBC and its ability to produce popular entertainment shows as the former director general accused the government of launching a “raid on BBC’s finances”. The former strategic adviser to Tony Blair told the Lords communications committee on Tuesday that a previous “raid” on BBC finances in 2010 had reduced the amount of TV produced in the UK and the latest set of cuts would have a similar effect. “In five or six years we’ve seen a decline in UK content of about a sixth. Five years ago the government took 16% out of the BBC’s budget, and people think ‘oh nothing will happen’. “Look at the data, look at how much is spent on the channels. It is cause and effect, as night follows day. We’ve just had another raid on the BBC’s finances. The sum total will take roughly 25% out of BBC funds. As night follows day, there will be reduction in the amount of original content.” Birt, who was director general for eight years until 2000, said the huge range of cultural and educational content made by the BBC reached a broad audience because it was in a “wrapper” also containing entertainment. “If you just had the purest form of public service [broadcasting], when I was a child in Liverpool I don’t expect I would have watched much of it,” he said. “What the BBC did from 1957 was to create high-quality entertainment in this country. The Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise, that’s the tradition we see today in Strictly [Come Dancing].” Culture secretary John Whittingdale has made it clear he does not believe the BBC should be producing mainstream entertainment such as Strictly Come Dancing or The Voice, and instead should focus on areas which other broadcasters are failing to cover, something Birt disputes. “That’s the argument against a pure market failure BBC. If you want this civilising force, that allows the most creative elements in our society to express themselves through writing and performance, you have to have a certain amount of critical mass. We will imperil that if we continue on the track we are now on of reducing the effective funding of the BBC.” Lord Birt also criticised the way in which the government did the backroom deal that will see the corporation saddled with a £750m bill for free TV licences to the over-75s by 2020. He said: “Can there be anybody who thinks the process we saw over the last few weeks can be fit for purpose? It was quite wrong, and by the way it was wrong five years go. “It is simply not proper for the government to come in, in the space of a small number of days, and require the BBC to take on lots of services without any kind of public debate.” |