Tory plans to sell-off Channel 4 are facing a furious backlash led by former Scottish party leader Ruth Davidson.
Plans for the sale are due to be will be included in the Queen’s Speech, the government’s legislative programme for the year, in May but are already facing strong opposition from within the Tory party.
Davidson, who is now a peer in the House of Lords, described the sale of Channel 4 as the “opposite of levelling up”.
She tweeted: “Channel 4 is publicly owned, not publicly funded.
"It doesn’t cost the taxpayer a penny. It also, by charter, commissions content but doesn’t make/own its own. It’s one of the reasons we have such a thriving indy sector in places like Glasgow. This is the opposite of levelling up.”
Channel 4 described the development as “disappointing” and highlighted that a consultation on the sell-off has raised “significant public interest concerns” over privatisation.
The move is being driven through by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries who last November wrongly claimed that Channel 4 was publicly funded.
Channel 4, which is 40 years old this year, is publicly owned but raises revenue through advertising.
The money it makes as a broadcaster goes back into commissioning all of its programmes from independent producers.
No price tag has been set for the sale but it is suggested the channel could be fetch as much as £1 billion with potential buyers having to maintain the public service remit to produce the flagship Channel 4 News programme.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport said the sell-off would allow the channel to “thrive in the face of a rapidly-changing media landscape” and compete against streaming channels like Amazon and Netflix which charge subscription fees.
SNP culture spokesman John Nicolson called the government’s decision a “direct attack on an innovative broadcaster which produces independent, high-quality journalism”.
Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said: “Selling off Channel 4, which doesn’t cost the taxpayer a penny anyway, to what is likely to be a foreign company, makes absolutely no sense. It will cost jobs and opportunities in the North and Yorkshire, and hit the wider British creative economy.”
Jamie Stone MP, the Lib Dem culture spokesman, said: “Occasionally, we as a country manage to magic up a world-renowned gem into being and Channel 4 is a perfect example.
"And yet this government seems hell-bent on trashing this uniquely British legacy and undermining jobs and investment in the creative sector.”
While, the former head of news and current affairs at Channel 4 has said the Government plans to privatise the network to "throw a bit of red meat to Tory supporters".
Speaking to Times Radio on Tuesday, Dorothy Byrne said Channel 4 was not left-wing, adding: "I think it's being privatised to throw a bit of red meat to Tory supporters of a very right-wing nature at a time that the Government is in trouble.
"I think the political agenda is to show that the Government is doing something radically right-wing to please people. It's the same agenda as attacking the licence fee.
"It's that knee-jerk thing, privatise thing, that's a good thing to do."
The Scottish Government said the “unnecessary and ill-conceived plan” was an attack on public-sector broadcasting from the Tories.
Angus Robertson, the SNP Cabinet Secretary for Culture, said: “This decision has been widely opposed in the media sector as well as in the vast majority of submissions to the UK Government’s own consultation.”
“Critics have pointed out that privatisation will dilute Channel 4’s focus on creativity and public benefit substituting this for a focus on commercial shareholders. It is not the way to secure Channel 4’s continued success and contribution to the UK’s creative industries.
“In particular, this will be disappointing news to the independent production sector which has flourished with Channel 4’s help including £200 million for Scottish-based productions and support for 400 jobs since 2007.
“In Scotland, this decision comes at the very time that the channel has strengthened its content spend, investment and links to Scottish creative businesses through its creative hub in Glasgow with high-value drama series, such as Screw filmed at Kelvin Hall.”
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