Speeches by Whittingdale.

“My hon. Friend has done a fantastic job in this area. He has been very persuasive in setting out the damage done to his constituency. Does he agree that the strength of the OffSET group—the offshore electricity grid taskforce—demonstrates that the issue is going to affect communities right across East Anglia, including…”

“I strongly welcome the decision to allow Ukraine to strike against targets in Russia, from which missiles, drones and glide bombs are launched. In discussing how best to support Ukraine, will the Prime Minister say what progress was made in assisting Ukraine’s own military industrial sector to allow it to develop its o…”

“As well as the legislative measures that were to be taken forward through Wayne David’s Bill, non-legislative measures were being developed through the SLAPPs taskforce. Could the Minister say whether that is still continuing?”

“I thank the hon. Member for South Dorset (Lloyd Hatton) for obtaining the debate, which is on an important subject. I chaired the all-party parliamentary group on media freedom, and am delighted to see the vice-chair, the hon. Member for Kensington and Bayswater (Joe Powell), attending the debate. The UK has a proud re…”

“I think that argument applies across the BBC’s services. People feel very strongly about other things the BBC does—local radio, for instance. If you had asked Parliament, the BBC would not have made any cuts to local radio. Anyway, it is certainly an interesting suggestion, and we will take account of it, so thank you.”

“Can I quickly follow up on that? The Chair raised “HARDtalk”. I am a fan of “HARDtalk”, and I think it is a little more than a rumour that it is under threat. Stephen Sackur has posted: “Today BBC News has announced plans to close @BBCHARDtalk after 3 decades holding the world’s politicians and powerbrokers to account.…”

“Professor Scott, I completely recognise the risk that the perception of the World Service may be influenced if there is more Government funding, and that could put at risk its independence. You talked about the need for safeguards; am I therefore right in my interpretation that you are not completely opposed to the BBC…”

“Before 2010—that was when my Government came into office.”

“I think we are coming to the end, so I will ask a wrap-up question. The World Service has obviously suffered cuts to its budget. There have been questions sometimes about its impartiality in certain areas, and its global reach has fallen quite considerably in the last few years. Do you think that trust in the BBC World…”

“So it is a money question.”

“Would the others agree?”

“As we have discussed, funding of the World Service has flip-flopped from Government to the licence fee payer and so on, and each has advantages and disadvantages, as the previous witnesses set out. I understand that you have put forward a suggestion that I think Michael Grade first advanced: the idea of splitting the E…”

“So we do not recreate Bush House.”

“Is there not a slight risk that that might be seen to be politicising the management of the World Service?”

“I think that argument applies across the BBC’s services. People feel very strongly about other things the BBC does—local radio, for instance. If you had asked Parliament, the BBC would not have made any cuts to local radio. Anyway, it is certainly an interesting suggestion, and we will take account of it, so thank you.”

“Can I quickly follow up on that? The Chair raised “HARDtalk”. I am a fan of “HARDtalk”, and I think it is a little more than a rumour that it is under threat. Stephen Sackur has posted: “Today BBC News has announced plans to close @BBCHARDtalk after 3 decades holding the world’s politicians and powerbrokers to account.…”

“Professor Scott, I completely recognise the risk that the perception of the World Service may be influenced if there is more Government funding, and that could put at risk its independence. You talked about the need for safeguards; am I therefore right in my interpretation that you are not completely opposed to the BBC…”

“Before 2010—that was when my Government came into office.”

“I think we are coming to the end, so I will ask a wrap-up question. The World Service has obviously suffered cuts to its budget. There have been questions sometimes about its impartiality in certain areas, and its global reach has fallen quite considerably in the last few years. Do you think that trust in the BBC World…”

“So it is a money question.”