MPs call for universal access and secure funding at BBC Charter Renewal debate
MPs have urged the UK government to guarantee that the BBC is sustainably funded, politically independent and universally accessible, following the launch of its Charter Renewal green paper.
MPs from various parties gathered in Westminster Hall on 6 January to debate the future of the BBC, focusing primarily on how the broadcaster should be funded, regulated, and governed to serve the needs of the UK public.
Rebecca Long-Bailey, MP for Salford and NUJ parliamentary group chair, highlighted the need for a major shift in direction after more than a decade of licence-fee freezes and cuts. She said:
“The BBC must remain universal and it must serve everyone. That means no subscription model, no two-tier system and no paywalls locking people out of so-called premium content. Public service broadcasting works only when it is genuinely public, and that universality must be protected through a funding model that is fair, sufficient and free from political interference. It is clear that sustained cuts and closed-door licence fee freezes have weakened that principle, and that has to end.”
She added that these cuts have been felt hardest in regional and local news, particularly in local radio, depriving many communities of “genuinely local programming.”
Kevin Bonavia, MP for Stevenage, said the “distinctly British” BBC should be viewed as “a service for all, like the NHS.”
Jonathan Davies, MP for Mid Derbyshire, argued that secure funding is vital in enabling the BBC to continue providing trustworthy news and information in an age where disinformation is rife.
He said: “Given the rise of AI, fake news and disinformation online and via social media, the BBC must grow its trustworthiness and retain its accuracy and impartiality. However, to do all that, the BBC must be properly resourced.”
He added that a shortfall in funding over the years has led to losses of highly skilled staff, “undermining the Reithian principles of the BBC: to inform, entertain and educate.”
Tom Rutland, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said: “One has only to look at the broadcast media landscape in the US to see how difficult it is for people to access news without a slant or an agenda. It is not good for public discourse or democracy when people cannot come to an agreement on the facts of a matter.”
Several MPs also raised issues around governance and the need for reform. The NUJ’s longstanding position has been that the BBC board and its chair should be chosen by an arms-length body to protect the BBC from political interference and ensure greater independence.
John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington and NUJ parliamentary group secretary, said:
“I would like to see much more worker representation on the board. I am secretary of the NUJ parliamentary group. We have been arguing for years that there should be at least 25% worker representation on the board.
“Currently, there is not a view that the board is independent. There is the argument that different governments have appointed different people at different times. I think that those individual appointees - certainly the one referred to in the Select Committee - have interfered in the BBC’s editorial decisions at different stages. That is unacceptable.”
NUJ reps at the BBC recently voted in support of an independent inquiry into “any allegations of inappropriate interference by board members in editorial matters.” Tonia Antoniazzi, MP for Gower and chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, during the debate asked if such an inquiry would be “necessary to restore public trust in the BBC board.”
Anna Sabine, MP for Frome and East Somerset and Liberal Democrat spokesperson for culture, media and sport, said: “Recent attempts by political figures, both at home and abroad, to exert pressure on the BBC only underline the importance of safeguarding its editorial independence. Allowing political or foreign interference in our media does not bode well for trust in public broadcasting.”
MPs also called on the government to protect and invest in the BBC World Service. Long-Bailey said the World Service, which reaches 450 million people globally each week, is “one of the UK’s greatest assets.” She added: “In a world where journalists are threatened and independent media is silenced, the World Service provides trusted, impartial information, yet repeated rounds of cuts have reduced its reach and handed ground to state-backed outlets from authoritarian regimes. Long-term, secure funding for the World Service is firmly in the national interest and must be restored.”