Evening summary
Here’s a roundup of the key developments from the day:
- Boris Johnson is facing a backlash from senior Tories over plans to privatise Channel 4, with the former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson describing it as “the opposite of levelling up”. Davidson led calls for the government to reconsider, along with the former cabinet ministers Damian Green and Jeremy Hunt.
- DCMS select committee chair Julian Knight has questioned if the government’s plans to forge forward with the privatisation of Channel 4 are “revenge”, adding that many Tories believe the move is “payback time” for “biased coverage”.
- Privatising Channel 4 “doesn’t make any sense” and will cause a “great deal of damage to jobs and opportunities”, Labour has said. Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I can’t find many people [who] are in favour of it.”
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The government should “feel ashamed” about announcing plans to sell off Channel 4 while MPs are not sitting, the Lords have heard. Liberal Democrat peer Lord McNally asked the culture minister Lord Parkinson: “Is he not ashamed that this extraordinarily well-run company is being dealt with in this way? A shabby decision made in an appalling way while the House of Commons is in recess.”
- The UK’s LGBT+ business champion has resigned “with a heavy heart” over the government’s “profoundly shocking” position on banning conversion therapy for transgender people. Iain Anderson said trust and belief in the government’s commitment to LGBT+ rights has been damaged, after a series of U-turns on plans to introduce legislation to ban conversion therapy.
- Pro-green cabinet ministers are frustrated by Boris Johnson’s decision to back away from ambitious onshore windfarm plans for England, as it emerged more than 100 Tory MPs are lobbying against the policy behind the scenes and he has been hit by a cabinet split over onshore wind.
- The UK government is moving too slowly to tackle the climate emergency, leading scientists have said in the wake of the latest IPCC report. This comes after Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit minister, declared that he supported “exploiting every last cubic inch of gas from the North Sea” the day the report was released.
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Civil service chiefs are braced for the behaviour of top Whitehall officials to be severely criticised in the Sue Gray partygate report, after the government’s former ethics chief apologised for attending an illegal gathering.
- A cross-party group of MPs and peers has joined forces with UK universities in calling for the visa scheme for Ukrainian refugees to be extended to temporary placements for students and academics. The letter argues that the amount of interest shown in the sponsorship system illustrates that many Britons are willing to help.
That’s it from me today. Thanks for joining me.
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Updated
PA reports that a Conservative peer questioned that Channel 4’s programming was made up only of “rare cultural gems”.
Lord Hannan of Kingsclere read out a list of Channel 4’s daytime programmes, including Kitchen Nightmares and Undercover Boss, as he hit back at claims that privatising the channel would diminish its output.
As peers asked the government about its plans to sell Channel 4, Lord Hannan said: “Ever since the announcement was made we have been hearing about all these rare cultural gems that are made possible by the unique way in which Channel 4 is financed, which somehow wouldn’t be possible in a red in tooth and claw jungle of capitalism.
“I have just been looking at what the programming is now. With your permission I will tell the House, it is: Kitchen Nightmares; Undercover Boss; Steph’s Packed Lunch; Countdown; a Place in the Sun; A New Life in the Sun; Sun, Sea and Selling Houses.”
The former MEP and Vote Leave founder added: “Is it really credible to say that we are defending something that could not be provided by the private sector? Will the minister comment on the disparity between the funds that come from the private sector to independent production companies and those that come from state broadcasters?”
Culture minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay replied that he would not join Lord Hannan in “singling out particular programmes.”
He added: “This is not about the content that Channel 4 currently produces or about its recent results. It is about making sure that it is able in the decades to come to compete, to invest and to continue to provide a range of programming which a range of people can benefit from.”
Updated
