As the government presses ahead with the privatisation of Channel 4 , famous faces have come out swinging. Kirstie Allsopp, of Location, Location, Location, tweeted “no true Conservative would sell Channel 4” and the broadcaster “was set up to foster the British film and TV industry and it has done that job admirably”. Russell T Davies, creator of It’s a Sin, suggested that a privatised broadcaster would be less likely to commission queer and diverse voices. Meanwhile, the broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough signed an open letter calling for an end to “short-sighted political and financial attacks” on public service broadcasters.
While the government insists that the sell-off would “give Channel 4 the tools and freedom to flourish and thrive as a public service broadcaster long into the future”, some argue that it is a politically motivated retaliation against a channel long perceived as left-leaning, and which angered No 10 with stunts such as replacing the Boris Johnson with a melting ice sculpture after the prime minister didn’t turn up to a climate change debate. Dorothy Byrne, a former Channel 4 editor-at-large, has described the looming privatisation as “a nice bit of red meat, to throw to [Boris Johnson’s] rightwing supporters, who are currently unhappy at him”.
