BBC Licence Fee Backed

At the debate yesterday by MPs on the Future of the BBC White Paper, Stephen Dorrell, national heritage secretary, strengthened the hopes of the BBC that the licence fee will remain its main source of finance for the foreseeable future.

While under pressure from MPs calling for the ending of state funding he insisted that the licence fee was the best means of ensuring that the BBC remained the pre-eminent public service broadcaster in the world. Dorrell said that the licence fee might be reviewed if the BBC’s audience share dropped below a certain, unspecified level but that “burden of proof” was with those who wanted change. Complaints over political impartiality were dismissed by Dorrell, saying the BBC always made an effort to be independent and had a reputation in the public mind for this.

Chris Smith, Labour’s shadow national heritage spokesman said the white paper’s proposal to review the licence fee in 2001 would put the corporation through needless uncertainty.