Speeches by Doogan.

“3. What recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on reducing the cost of living in Wales.”

“A century of Labour taking the people of Wales for granted came crashing down last week with the sensational victory of Plaid’s Lindsay Whittle in Caerphilly, with Labour reduced to third place. Why would anybody accept any more Labour, as Labour’s cost of living soars, its Westminster perma-crisis deepens, and 700,000…”

“But, Mr Radcliffe, your pen was hovering over it in March 2024. That is not a long time ago; that is just over a year ago. The structural events, as you detail them in your market, challenging as they are, they are part of a pattern that goes back way beyond March 2024. You knew the environment in which you were signin…”

“Finally, on your licence renewal, we have discussed that. I do not want to go over that which has been said before, except to ask how would you respond to the fairly tangible perception that you knew exactly what was coming down the line and you did not want to discuss it with Ofcom in advance? You waited until you had…”

“I am just trying to understand what your offer will be compared to the Bauer media network across Scotland. What is going to be different?”

“But your responsibility as the CEO is to drive growth in the business both for your shareholders and also for the population of Scotland, who you are indebted to—or duty-bound to—because of your public sector broadcast obligations. It is very regretful, is it not, now that you are in a in-year difficult situation—you w…”

“I do not think that any of us on the Committee, or anywhere else, would deny STV its opportunity to diversify into radio. It is just unfortunate that that is getting investment at the same time as jobs are being cut in the north. That is what sits uneasily with people. As you have already clarified yourself, your respo…”

“This is a supplementary to Kirsteen’s question. What are your revenue projections for STV radio?”

“I am not disputing your cost base. What I am disputing is your spurious comparison with Northern Ireland, Wales and the English regions. If that is what is informing your strategic decision-making process, then it is no wonder we are where we are.”

“Can I invite Mr Hain to reflect on his evidence there, where he complained that Scotland has a higher cost to output their public service obligations in news compared to Wales or Northern Ireland, two very much smaller countries with a very much smaller population? You are not comparing eggs with eggs, Mr Hain. Also, w…”

“Where are the bulk of the savings falling? What area, what city?”

“Nobody is suggesting that the status quo is where you are going to be next year or the year after or in 10 years’ time. You should be very proud of STV North. Do you think the people who work at STV North think that STV and Glasgow are very proud of them? As you have already said, they are meeting and/or exceeding all …”

“I would argue, on the evidence of the last few weeks, that does not appear to be the case, certainly not if you live in the north of Scotland.”

“Sorry, as an excuse, that only goes so far because you were not signing up to a 12-month licence or a 24-month licence, you were signing up to a 10-year licence. It is your responsibility as the Chief Executive to do due diligence in accordance with the information that you are getting from your executives to see if si…”

“Mr Radcliffe, when you were at the Scottish Parliament Committee, you said that if STV becomes sustainable and profitable, it will be able to deliver its public service obligations. That was not the time to make that decision. The time to make that decision was when you were signing up to another 10 years of your licen…”

“Can you write to us for clarity on both of those points—about where there is another more successful regional broadcast on the ITV network, what the actual viewing figures were for last night and the 40% figure for STV North? It would be helpful to get that defined.”

“309,000 people watched STV North last night at 6 pm.”

“It is 40% of people in the north are watching STV.”

“Can you identify a regional news broadcast in the UK that outperforms STV North in terms of its own market penetration?”

“And executive roles?”