A petition calling for a rethink over plans to privatise Channel 4 has now been signed by more than 350,000 people. The Government confirmed on Monday that it will proceed with plans to privatise Channel 4, which has been publicly owned since it was founded in 1982 and is funded by advertising.
As of 1.30pm on Friday (April 8) the Change.org Channel 4 petition had been signed by 353,849 people. They include TV and radio presenter Dermot O'Leary who shared a link to his 2.6m followers on Twitter.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said that while Channel 4 held a “cherished place in British life” she felt that public ownership was holding the broadcaster back from “competing against streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon”. However a number of senior Conservatives have criticised the plans.
Tory MP and Father of the House Sir Peter Bottomley told the PA news agency the House of Lords will take out any clause that privatises the network. He said he will make a speech shortly after the Queen’s Speech in the Commons explaining why he deems the plans “unconservative”.
Other critics include former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee Julian Knight, and former cabinet ministers Damian Green and Jeremy Hunt publicly questioned the plans.
Sir Peter’s comments were echoed by Mr Green, who also branded the plans “unconservative” in a tweet on Monday. He said: “The sale of Channel 4 is politicians and civil servants thinking they know more about how to run a business than the people who run it. Very unconservative. Mrs Thatcher, who created it, never made that mistake.”
Speaking on Wednesday morning to LBC Radio, Health Secretary Sajid Javid insisted the network’s privatisation will set it free. He said: “I love Channel 4. I think it’s great, but I want a Channel 4 that can compete in what is a fast-changing landscape. I think we can all agree that since Channel 4 was created the media landscape has changed.
“You must think carefully about why could it be better off being sold, and the reason is that, to compete properly, it needs to be able to raise its own funds and capital, whether that’s debt or equity, to do that in a way that it can properly compete in a vastly changing media landscape.
Plans for the sale will reportedly be set out in a White Paper later this month and will be included in a new Media Bill for next spring. A Government defeat in the Commons looks unlikely given Boris Johnson’s working majority of 77, but it might be a different story in the House of Lords as there is no Tory majority in the upper chamber.
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